Aging and Psychological Well-Being: The Possible Role of Inhibition Skills

Abstract

(1) Background: Psychological well-being (PWB) is a multidimensional construct which is a key protective factor against chronic diseases in older adults. Numerous psychological and cognitive factors can influence older people’s PWB. However, while most studies have explored the effect of general cognition, only a few investigated the role of specific cognitive functions such as the efficiency of executive functions. Thus, the present study aimed to directly explore the relationships between PWB, age, and the core executive functions (namely working memory, flexibility, and inhibition). (2) Methods: A sample of 51 healthy older adults (age range: 60–88) were enrolled and tested both for PWB (by Ryff’s psychological well-being scale) and the core executive functions (by the Digit span backward, the Trail Making Test, and the Stroop test). (3) Results: Age and inhibitory skills are negatively correlated to the personal growth subscale of the PWB scale. Moreover, a hierarchical regression analysis showed that inhibition, but not working memory and flexibility, predicted the sense of continued growth and development (personal growth) of older adults, even after controlling for age and educational levels. Limitations and implications for future research and prevention interventions are discussed.

Exploring the Relationships between Personality and Psychological Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Pro-Environmental Behaviors

“…This means that PWB should be achieved by all individuals at any age. Several studies have consistently demonstrated a strong connection between PWB and successful ageing (Fusi et al 2022;Boccardi and Boccardi 2019;Steptoe et al 2015). Low levels of PWB were also found to be positively correlated to mortality (Matud et al 2019).…”

A State-of-the-Art Review on the Role of Cognitive and Motor Reserve on Quality of Life: A Focus on Cardiovascular Patients in a Lifespan Perspective

“…Recent evidence has highlighted its beneficial effects, especially on some cognitive abilities (i.e., executive functions, learning, memory and language) in the older population [ 77 ]. Executive functions, which are supported by lifestyles including physical activity, play a key role in the elderly’s mental health, as higher levels of cognitive processes are fundamental in targeting goals, effortful behavior and environment adaptation [ 78 , 79 ]. In fact, currently, physical activity programs are well-established strategies for improving working memory, cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control in cognitively healthy older adults [ 80 ].…”

Detecting implicit and explicit facial emotions at different ages

“…This bias consists of a lower impact of negative information on attention and memory processes in older adults than in younger adults (Mammarella et al 2016b ; Mather 2016 ; Mather and Knight 2005 ), with less accurate performance in recalling negative events (Charles 2010 ; Ceccato et al 2022 ). This bias has been explained as due to the fact that when the temporal horizon of persons is limited, they would try to avoid negative emotions and would be strongly oriented toward positive experiences (Carstensen et al 2006 ; Fusi et al 2022 ; Cannito et al 2021 ): this would happen in ageing when residual life duration is usually perceived as progressively limited (Ceccato et al 2021 , 2023 ). This positivity bias has been recently confirmed with surprised faces, considered ambiguous in valence (Barber et al 2022 ).…”