@article {12077, title = {Change in Episodic Memory with Spousal Loss: The Role of Social Relationships.}, journal = {The Journals of Gerontology, Series B }, volume = {77}, year = {2022}, pages = {683-694}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVES: The spousal relationship is one of the most important social contexts in old age and the loss of a spouse/partner is associated with stress and cognitive decline. In the present study, we examined whether social relationships can buffer potential negative effects of spousal loss on cognition. We examined the role of social network, social activities, and perceived deficiencies in social relationships (loneliness).

METHOD: We used longitudinal data between 1998-2012 from 2,077 participants of the Health and Retirement Study, who had experienced spousal loss during the study period. Multilevel modeling was used to examine how time-varying indicators of social network, social activities, and loneliness were related to age-related trajectories of episodic memory prior to and after spousal loss. Analyses controlled for gender, race/ethnicity, education, time-varying functional health and being re-partnered/re-married.

RESULTS: Having children living within 10 miles and providing help to others buffered negative effects of widowhood on episodic memory. In addition, within-person increase in providing help to others buffered against decline in episodic memory after spousal loss. Having friends in the neighborhood, more frequent social visits, providing help to others, volunteering, and lack of loneliness were related to higher episodic memory, while having relatives in the neighborhood was related to lower episodic memory.

DISCUSSION: Our findings suggest that social networks, social activities, and loneliness are related to levels of cognitive function at the time of spousal loss and that social relationships can buffer negative effects of spousal loss on cognitive function. Implications for future research are discussed.

}, keywords = {Episodic Memory, longitudinal, Social Relationships, Spousal loss, Widowhood}, issn = {1758-5368}, doi = {10.1093/geronb/gbab231}, author = {H{\"u}l{\"u}r, Gizem and Elayoubi, Joanne and Nelson, Monica E and William E. Haley} } @article {11677, title = {Structural and Functional Aspects of Social Relationships and Episodic Memory: Between-Person and Within-Person Associations in Middle-Aged and Older Adults.}, journal = {Gerontology}, volume = {68}, year = {2022}, pages = {86-97}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVES: A growing body of research has documented associations between social relationships and cognitive function, while findings are less clear regarding specific aspects of social relationships that are relevant to change in cognitive function. Furthermore, it is unclear whether associations differ at the between-person and within-person levels.

METHOD: The present study used 8-year longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to examine the role of structural (partnered/married, number of social network partners, and contact frequency) as well as functional (support, strain, and loneliness) aspects of social relationships for episodic memory at the between-person and within-person levels. Analyses are based on up to 3 waves of data from 19,297 participants (mean age at baseline = 66 years, SD = 10, range = 50-104; 58\% women). Control variables include age at baseline, gender, education, functional health, and depressive symptoms.

RESULTS: Findings showed that at the between-person level, most structural and functional aspects were related to levels of memory performance, with participants with higher numbers of social network members, more frequent contact, and more positive experiences outperforming others. An exception was a higher number of family (child or relative) relationships. At the within-person level, on occasions where participants had a higher number of close family relationships than usual, had more social contact than usual, and felt less lonely than usual, they also showed higher than usual episodic memory performance. Finally, negative effects of social strain and loneliness on episodic memory performance at the between-person level were moderated by social network size, indicating that effects were more negative among individuals with larger social networks.

DISCUSSION: Both structural and functional aspects of social relationships contribute to between-person differences in levels and fluctuations of episodic memory performance. Ups and downs of relationships to relatives, social contact, and feelings of loneliness contribute to ups and downs of episodic memory. Potential mechanisms underlying these associations are discussed.

}, keywords = {Episodic Memory, longitudinal change, Social networks, Social Relationships, Social Support}, issn = {1423-0003}, doi = {10.1159/000514949}, author = {H{\"u}l{\"u}r, Gizem} } @article {11218, title = {Internet Adoption in Older Adults: Findings from the Health and Retirement Study.}, journal = {Cyberpsychol, Behavior, and Social Networking}, volume = {24}, year = {2021}, pages = {101-107}, abstract = {

Being able to use the Internet is becoming increasingly important in today{\textquoteright}s digitized society. Evidence suggests that older adults are at risk of being left behind by technological developments. We examined Internet adoption in older adults in relation to sociodemographic, health, cognitive, social, and personality factors. We used data from the Health and Retirement Study ( = 5,949; 61 percent women; age: = 72 years, standard deviation [] = 7; range = 50-105). Internet use was examined over an 8-year period. Predictors were assessed at baseline. We used a Cox proportional hazards model to examine how predictors were related to Internet adoption during the study period. Overall, 1,296 out of 5,949 participants (22 percent) reported starting to use the Internet during the study period. Our findings revealed that younger age, higher education, higher income, living with a partner, and better cognitive performance were associated with a higher likelihood of Internet adoption, whereas being Black was associated with a lower likelihood. Openness was associated with a higher likelihood of Internet adoption over the study period. Our findings add to the literature on the role of sociodemographic, cognitive, and health factors in older adults{\textquoteright} Internet use. In addition, we show that personality also predicts older adults{\textquoteright} Internet use.

}, keywords = {cognitive function, Internet use, Personality, Successful aging, Technology}, issn = {2152-2723}, doi = {10.1089/cyber.2019.0736}, author = {Macdonald, Birthe and H{\"u}l{\"u}r, Gizem} } @article {9736, title = {Is subjective memory change in old age based on accurate monitoring of age-related memory change? Evidence from two longitudinal studies.}, journal = {Psychology and Aging}, volume = {33}, year = {2018}, pages = {273-287}, abstract = {Subjective memory change (SMC) in adulthood involves the perception that one{\textquoteright}s memory has declined from earlier levels of function. SMC has been conjectured to be more accurate than concurrent subjective memory because people use themselves as a standard of comparison. We used data from two longitudinal studies to contrast the accurate-monitoring-of-change hypothesis-actual memory change predicts SMC-against a constructed-judgment hypothesis that rated SMC is a function of rescaling concurrent memory beliefs without accessing actual memory change. It states that actual memory change has no predictive validity for SMC independent of concurrent memory beliefs. Data from both the Berlin Aging Study and the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) showed that older adults{\textquoteright} current memory complaints strongly predicted current SMC, and that there was little relationship of longitudinally measured memory change to SMC, controlling on memory complaints. In the HRS there were reliable latent-growth-curve slope correlations of over .20 for change in episodic memory with both slopes of change in SMC and in memory complaints, yet little relationship of SMC slopes to episodic memory slopes, controlling on memory-complaint slopes. The results falsify the accurate-monitoring-of-change hypothesis regarding the origins of SMC in older adults.}, keywords = {Memory, Self Report, Subjective Expectations}, issn = {0882-7974}, doi = {10.1037/pag0000232}, url = {http://doi.apa.org/getdoi.cfm?doi=10.1037/pag0000232http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/pag/33/2/273.pdf}, author = {Hertzog, Christopher and H{\"u}l{\"u}r, Gizem and Denis Gerstorf and Ann Pearman} } @article {8205, title = {Historical improvements in well-being do not hold in late life: Birth- and death-year cohorts in the United States and Germany.}, journal = {Dev Psychol}, volume = {51}, year = {2015}, note = {Times Cited: 0 0}, month = {2015 Jul}, pages = {998-1012}, publisher = {51}, abstract = {

One key objective of life span research is to examine how individual development is shaped by the historical time people live in. Secular trends favoring later-born cohorts on fluid cognitive abilities have been widely documented, but findings are mixed for well-being. It remains an open question whether secular increases in well-being seen in earlier phases of life also manifest in the last years of life. To examine this possibility, we made use of longitudinal data obtained from the mid-1980s until the late 2000s in 2 large national samples in the United States (Health and Retirement Study [HRS]) and Germany (German Socio-Economic Panel [SOEP]). We operationally defined historical time from 2 complementary perspectives: birth-year cohorts based on the years in which people were born (earlier: 1930s vs. later: 1940s) and death-year cohorts based on the years in which people died (earlier: 1990s vs. later: 2000s). To control for relevant covariates, we used case-matched groups based on age (at death) and education and covaried for gender, health, and number of observations. Results from both countries revealed that well-being in old age was indeed developing at higher levels among later-born cohorts. However, for later-deceased cohorts, no evidence for secular increases in well-being was found. To the contrary, later-dying SOEP participants reported lower levels of well-being at age 75 and 2 years prior to death and experienced steeper late-life declines. Our results suggest that secular increases in well-being observed in old age do not manifest in late life, where "manufactured" survival may be exacerbating age- and mortality-related declines.

}, keywords = {Aged, Aging, Cohort Effect, depression, Epidemiologic Research Design, Female, Germany, Health Status, Health Surveys, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Propensity Score, United States}, issn = {1939-0599}, doi = {10.1037/a0039349}, author = {H{\"u}l{\"u}r, Gizem and Ram, Nilam and Denis Gerstorf} } @article {7896, title = {Cohorts based on decade of death: no evidence for secular trends favoring later cohorts in cognitive aging and terminal decline in the AHEAD study.}, journal = {Psychol Aging}, volume = {28}, year = {2013}, month = {2013 Mar}, pages = {115-27}, publisher = {28}, abstract = {

Studies of birth-year cohorts examined over the same age range often report secular trends favoring later-born cohorts, who are cognitively fitter and show less steep cognitive declines than earlier-born cohorts. However, there is initial evidence that those advantages of later-born cohorts do not carry into the last years of life, suggesting that pervasive mortality-related processes minimize differences that were apparent earlier in life. Elaborating this work from an alternative perspective on cohort differences, we compared rates of cognitive aging and terminal decline in episodic memory between cohorts based on the year participants had died, earlier (between 1993 and 1999) or later in historical time (between 2000 and 2010). Specifically, we compared trajectories of cognitive decline in 2 death-year cohorts of participants in the Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old study that were matched on age at death and education and controlled for a variety of additional covariates. Results revealed little evidence of secular trends favoring later cohorts. To the contrary, the cohort that died in the 2000s showed a less favorable trajectory of age-related memory decline than the cohort that died in the 1990s. In examinations of change in relation to time to death, the cohort dying in the 2000s experienced even steeper terminal declines than the cohort dying in the 1990s. We suggest that secular increases in "manufacturing" survival may exacerbate age- and mortality-related cognitive declines among the oldest old.

}, keywords = {Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aging, Death, Epidemiologic Research Design, Female, Health Surveys, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Memory Disorders, Memory, Episodic, Time Factors, United States}, issn = {1939-1498}, doi = {10.1037/a0029965}, author = {H{\"u}l{\"u}r, Gizem and Frank J Infurna and Ram, Nilam and Denis Gerstorf} }