Testing the purported mechanisms of the AgingPLUS intervention: Effects on physical activity outcomes.

Following the experimental medicine approach, Diehl et al. (2023) demonstrated the malleability of negative views of aging (NVOA), self-efficacy beliefs, and exercise intention in middle-aged and older adults who participated in the AgingPLUS intervention program. The present study built on those findings and addressed (a) whether the intervention resulted in significant improvements in physical activity (PA) and (b) whether the purported mechanistic variables were significant mediators of the intervention's effects on PA outcomes.

Amplified Intraindividual Variability in Motor Performance in Stroke Survivors: Links to Cognitive and Clinical Outcomes.

Background: Intraindividual variability (IIV) in motor performance reflects unintentional fluctuations in the motor output across repeated attempts. Behavioral variability in older adults has been linked to impaired neuronal integrity and cognitive decline. Despite this, the traditional motor assessments in stroke have neglected to characterize IIV in motor performance also known as "motor inconsistency.

Examining the malleability of implicit views of aging in middle-aged and older adults.

Negative views of aging (VoA) present a motivational barrier to healthy aging. Although prior interventions have demonstrated success in making adults' negative VoA more positive, reliance on self-report-based explicit measures is insufficient to examine whether these interventions also affected individuals' implicit VoA. Thus, this study assessed the impact of the AgingPLUS program, a 4-week psychoeducational intervention, on implicit measures of VoA in a randomized controlled trial.

Psychometric Properties and Measurement Invariance of the Awareness of Age-Related Change Short Form in Older Adult Samples From Taiwan and Germany.

Background And Objectives: This study examined the psychometric properties and measurement invariance of the 10-item Awareness of Age-Related Change Short Form (AARC-SF) questionnaire in a Chinese-speaking sample of older adults in Taiwan.

Research Design And Methods: Data from 292 participants (Mage = 77.64 years) in the Healthy Aging Longitudinal Study in Taiwan cohort were used for Study 1, whereas data from young-old adult samples in Germany were used for Study 2.

Examining the role of living alone and loneliness in predicting health-related quality of life: results from the Healthy Aging Longitudinal Study in Taiwan (HALST).

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the distinct yet interconnected aspects of social isolation, namely living alone and loneliness, and their individual and combined effects on predicting health-related quality of life (HRQoL).

Methods: A comprehensive analysis, encompassing both cross-sectional and longitudinal approaches, was conducted using a nationally representative sample of 5644 community-dwelling adults aged 55 and older from the Healthy Aging Longitudinal Study in Taiwan (HALST).

Results: Baseline data revealed that 9% of the sample reported living alone, while 10.

Examining the Malleability of Negative Views of Aging, Self-Efficacy Beliefs, and Behavioral Intentions in Middle-Aged and Older Adults.

Objectives: This study examined the malleability of a tripartite cluster of purported mechanistic variables targeted in a 4-week intervention program designed to improve adults' engagement in physical activity. The targeted cluster of purported mechanisms consisted of negative views of aging (NVOA), self-efficacy beliefs, and behavioral intentions.

Methods: A randomized single-blind control group design was used to implement the AgingPLUS program in a sample of middle-aged and older adults (N = 335; Mage = 60.

Stress and excessive alcohol consumption among insured and uninsured adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aim: This study examined the relationships between stress, excessive drinking, including binge and heavy drinking, and health insurance status among a regionally representative sample of adults living in Northern Larimer County, Colorado, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Subject And Methods: Data from 551 adults aged 18 to 64 years (62.98% aged 45 to 65 years; 73.

Interactions of Insomnia and Sedative-Hypnotic Drug Use Associated with Frailty Over Time Among Older Adults.

Background: Insomnia and frailty are prevalent in older adults. This study aimed to elucidate the impact of insomnia and sedative-hypnotic use on the frailty rate over time.

Methods: We used data from community-dwelling older adults (mean ± SD age = 69.

Has the COVID-19 pandemic affected older adults' personal and general views on aging? Evidence for losses and gains.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic might have affected older adults' personal and general views on aging (VoA) because they were frequently, particularly during the early phase of the pandemic, portrayed as a homogeneous, vulnerable group in the media and in public debates. Also, their higher risk of severe COVID-19 disease progression as well as other pandemic-related stressors and restrictions might have impacted how older adults perceive their own aging. In this study, it was examined to which extent middle-aged and older adults' personal and general VoA changed due to the pandemic by distinguishing between normative age-graded change across multiple measurement occasions and potentially pandemic-specific history-graded change.

Assessment of incident frailty hazard associated with depressive symptoms in a Taiwanese longitudinal study.

Objectives: To estimate the risks of depressive symptoms for developing frailty, accounting for baseline robust or pre-frailty status.

Design: An incident cohort study design.

Setting: Community dwellers aged 55 years and above from urban and rural areas in seven regions in Taiwan.

Effect of exergaming versus combined exercise on cognitive function and brain activation in frail older adults: A randomised controlled trial.

Background: Cognitive impairment is prevalent among frail older adults. Traditional exercise and exergaming positively affect cognition in healthy older people. However, few studies have investigated the effects of exergaming on cognition and brain activation in frail older adults.

The Aging trial: Design of a randomized controlled trial to increase physical activity in middle-aged and older adults.

Background: Negative views of aging (NVOA), low self-efficacy beliefs, and poor goal planning skills represent risk factors that undermine adults' motivation to engage in physical activity (PA). Targeting these three risk factors may motivate adults to become physically active.

Objective: To assess the efficacy of Aging, a 4-week educational program that explicitly targets NVOA, low self-efficacy beliefs, and poor goal planning skills compared to a 4-week health education program.

The paradox of aging and health-related quality of life in Asian Chinese: results from the Healthy Aging Longitudinal Study in Taiwan.

Background: Declines in health, physical, cognitive, and mental function with age suggest a lower level of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in late life; however, previous studies found that the associations were weak and varied, depending on the study designs and cohort characteristics.

Methods: The present study examined the paradox of aging in an East Asian context by regressing the age patterns of objective health indicators (physical, cognitive, and mental function), and subjective HRQoL (12-item Short Form, SF-12), on the independent and interactive effects of age and physical function in a cohort study of 5022 community-dwelling adults aged 55 and older in Taiwan.

Results: Age patterns differed across measures.

Using virtual reality-based training to improve cognitive function, instrumental activities of daily living and neural efficiency in older adults with mild cognitive impairment.

Background: A combination of physical and cognitive training appears to be the effective intervention to improve cognitive function in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Computing technology such as virtual reality (VR) may have the potential to assist rehabilitation in shaping brain health. However, little is known about the potential of VR-based physical and cognitive training designed as an intervention for cognition and brain activation in elderly patients with MCI.

Moderating effect of depression on the association between pain and activities of daily living in older adults.

Background: Maintaining older adults' ability to function independently in the community is a critically important public health concern. One of the most common symptoms threatening that ability is pain. Depression is a common co-occurring symptom in older adults with pain.

Sedative-hypnotic drug use among community-dwelling elderly in Taiwan.

Unlabelled: ABSTRACTBackground:Sedative-hypnotic medication use has been related to severe adverse events and risks. This study investigated the prevalence of and characteristics associated with the use of sedatives and hypnotics among community-dwelling elderly persons aged 65 years and over in Taiwan.

Methods: A representative sample of community-dwelling adults was recruited.

Prevalence of and risk factors for minor and major depression among community-dwelling older adults in Taiwan.

Background: This study was conducted to estimate prevalence rates and risk factors for late-life depression in a large nationwide representative sample from Taiwan.

Methods: A total of 5,664, randomly sampled individuals aged ≥55 years were enrolled. Clinically, relevant depressive symptoms were classified using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D score ≥16), and major depression was confirmed using the Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders.