Brief Video-Delivered Intervention to Reduce Anxiety and Improve Functioning in Older Veterans: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Older veterans with anxiety disorders encounter multiple barriers to receiving mental health services, including transportation difficulties, physical limitations, and limited access to providers trained to work with older persons. To address both accessibility and the shortage of available providers, evidence-based treatments that can be delivered via guided self-management modalities are a potential solution.

Objective: This study aims to determine the feasibility and acceptability of a randomized controlled trial of 2 guided self-management interventions.

Association between mental health symptoms and behavioral performance in younger vs. older online workers.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with increased rates of mental health problems, particularly in younger people.

Objective: We quantified mental health of online workers before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and cognition during the early stages of the pandemic in 2020. A pre-registered data analysis plan was completed, testing the following three hypotheses: reward-related behaviors will remain intact as age increases; cognitive performance will decline with age; mood symptoms will worsen during the pandemic compared to before.

Insights about personality traits and cognitive performance and decline in adults 51-59 Years old from the Wisconsin longitudinal study.

Objectives: To delineate midlife personality dimensions of early cognitive change in an age-homogenous sample of U.S. older adults.

A Systematic Review of Psychotherapy Approaches for Anxiety in Parkinson's Disease.

Objectives: Anxiety is common in Parkinson's disease (PD), negatively impacting daily functioning and quality of life in PD patients and their families. This systematic review evaluates the effectiveness of different psychotherapeutic approaches for reducing anxiety in PD and provides recommendations for clinical practise.

Methods: Following PRISMA guidelines, 36 studies were included and risk of bias was evaluated.

Preparing the Next Generation of Academic Researchers During the Pandemic: Lessons from a National Mental Health Research Postdoctoral Fellowship.

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has severely disrupted all aspects of academic medicine, including post-doctoral research fellowship training. The current survey examined ways in which research fellows across 28 U.S.

Problem Solving Training for Veterans with Complex Comorbidities: Treatment Delivery Adaptations during COVID-19.

Objectives: To summarize adaptations due to COVID-19 for VA Problem Solving Training (PST) for clinicians serving medically complex patients and to compare patient mental health outcomes in the year before (2019) and during COVID-19 (2020).

Methods: Clinicians attended a multi-day workshop and up to 6 months of small-group consultation for two training cases. In 2019 and 2020, 122 Veteran patients completed baseline and posttreatment measures of depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 item), and negative problem-solving beliefs (Negative Problem Orientation Questionnaire).

Depression, health comorbidities, cognitive symptoms and their functional impact: Not just a geriatric problem.

Objective: To compare the prevalence of cognitive symptoms and their functional impact by age group accounting for depression and number of other health conditions.

Methods: We analyzed data from the 2011 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a population-based, cross-sectional telephone survey of US adults. Twenty-one US states asked participants (n = 131, 273) about cognitive symptoms (worsening confusion or memory loss in the past year) and their functional impact (interference with activities and need for assistance).

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder-Associated Cognitive Deficits on the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status in a Veteran Population.

Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a frequent problem of veterans receiving care and is often associated with cognitive deficits. The Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS) is a well-validated cognitive screening measure often used in the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), particularly in neurorehabilitation settings. However, the influence of PTSD on RBANS performance is unclear, particularly within a heterogeneous VA outpatient population in which PTSD and traumatic brain injury (TBI) may not be the primary focus of care.

Problem-solving training for Veterans in home based primary care: an evaluation of intervention effectiveness.

Background: Veterans enrolled in Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Home Based Primary Care (HBPC), a program providing in-home medical and mental health care by an interdisciplinary care team, often face substantial physical, cognitive, and mental health challenges. This program evaluation examined the impact of a brief problem-solving intervention on depressive symptoms, quality of life, and problem-solving abilities for Veterans enrolled in HBPC.

Design: Pre- and post-intervention outcomes for Veterans, and qualitative feedback from Veterans and clinicians regarding program satisfaction.

Satisfaction with a Vacuum Constriction Device for Erectile Dysfunction among Middle-Aged and Older Veterans.

Objectives: To investigate satisfaction with a vacuum constriction device for middle-aged and older male Veterans with erectile dysfunction and their female partners.

Methods: Patients ( = 57; mean age = 64.28 years; SD = 8.

Feasibility, Acceptance, and Initial Evaluation of a Telephone-Based Program Designed to Increase Socialization in Older Veterans.

Loneliness is a public health issue, particularly for older Veterans. To increase older Veterans' access for socialization opportunities, a community-based telephone-delivered activity program was developed, in which Veterans can call in and engage in social activities through telephone. This paper illustrates the feasibility, acceptance, and preliminary outcomes of this program using a mixed-methods design.

The 5-HTTLPR long allele predicts two-year longitudinal increases in cortisol and declines in verbal memory in older adults.

Objectives: The short form or s-allele variant of the serotonin transporter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR), as compared with the long-form or l-allele variant, has been associated with the presence of cognitive dysfunction, and particularly memory impairment in older adults. This body of cross-sectional work has culminated in the hypothesis that presence of the s-allele predicts greater memory decline in older adults. Yet, to date, there are no longitudinal studies that have investigated this issue.

Guided self-management targeting anxiety and activity participation in older Veterans.

Objectives: This study examined the acceptance, feasibility, and preliminary effects of a guided self-management intervention using video delivery and a telephone coach on anxiety and activity engagement.

Method: Ten Veterans aged 60 years or older with anxiety disorders determined by Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5 edition (SCID-5) at baseline visit participated in this non-randomized study examining a 4-week guided self-management intervention for anxiety. Feasibility was examined using participation engagement with the intervention.

Technology use and preferences for mental health self-management interventions among older veterans.

Objectives: The United States Department of Veterans Affairs offers numerous technology-delivered interventions to self-manage mental health problems. It is unknown, however, what barriers older military veterans face to using these technologies and how willing they would be to use technologies for mental health concerns.

Methods: Seventy-seven veterans (M = 69.

Factors Associated with Supportive Care Service Use Among California Alzheimer's Disease Patients and Their Caregivers.

Background: Existing literature on factors associated with supportive care service (SCS) use is limited. A better understanding of these factors could help tailor SCS to the needs of frequent users, as well as facilitate targeted outreach to populations that underutilize available services.

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of SCS use and to identify factors associated with, and barriers to, service use.

Video-Delivered Relaxation Intervention Reduces Late-Life Anxiety: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: The study's aim was to demonstrate the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a 4-week video-delivered relaxation program called Breathing, Relaxation, and Education for Anxiety Treatment in the Home Environment (BREATHE) for reducing anxiety and increasing activity engagement in older adults with anxiety disorders.

Methods: This was an 8-week pilot randomized controlled trial performed as outpatient and self-directed learning at home among 40 community-dwelling adults aged 60years or older who met criteria for an anxiety disorder (generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, agoraphobia, or anxiety disorder unspecified). The study looked at the BREATHE intervention compared with a wait list control condition.