Older adults remember more positive aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ford, Jaclyn H.; Garcia, Sandry M.; Fields, Eric C.; Cunningham, Tony J.; Kensinger, Elizabeth A.

doi:10.1037/pag0000636

Cited by 17 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…After experiencing the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing, older age was associated with an increased tendency to focus on the good that had come from the event (the heroism, the city coming together; Ford, DiBiase, & Kensinger, 2018), and 6 months later, older age also was associated with a decreased tendency to focus on the negative aspects of the event (Ford, DiBiase, Ryu, & Kensinger, 2018). A similar pattern was recently shown for reflections on the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: older age was associated with an increased tendency to focus on the positive aspects (Ford et al, 2021).…”

Section: Positive Memories Retain Their Affective Strength and Act As...supporting

confidence: 52%

“…Someone may be devastated at the time of a breakup, and only later come to realize that the relationship was not a healthy one. With time, we cannot only come to appreciate that things were not as bad as they initially seemed but also to appreciate the silver linings Ford et al, 2021; see Box 4 for discussion of how older adults may be particularly good at this).…”

Section: Positive Memories Retain Their Affective Strength and Act As...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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The power of negative and positive episodic memories

Williams

Ford

Kensinger

2022

Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci

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The power of episodic memories is that they bring a past moment into the present, providing opportunities for us to recall details of the experiences, reframe or update the memory, and use the retrieved information to guide our decisions. In these regards, negative and positive memories can be especially powerful: Life’s highs and lows are disproportionately represented in memory, and when they are retrieved, they often impact our current mood and thoughts and influence various forms of behavior. Research rooted in neuroscience and cognitive psychology has historically focused on memory for negative emotional content. Yet the study of autobiographical memories has highlighted the importance of positive emotional memories, and more recently, cognitive neuroscience methods have begun to clarify why positive memories may show powerful relations to mental wellbeing. Here, we review the models that have been proposed to explain why emotional memories are long-lasting (durable) and likely to be retrieved (accessible), describing how in overlapping—but distinctly separable—ways, positive and negative memories can be easier to retrieve, and more likely to influence behavior. We end by identifying potential implications of this literature for broader topics related to mental wellbeing, education, and workplace environments.

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Section: Positive Memories Retain Their Affective Strength and Act As...supporting

confidence: 52%

Section: Positive Memories Retain Their Affective Strength and Act As...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The power of negative and positive episodic memories

Williams

Ford

Kensinger

2022

Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Similar results were obtained by another survey performed during March and April 2020 on a sample of 776 individuals aged 18-91 years from Canada and the USA 51 . Furthermore, another study suggested that older age leads to a greater focus on positive aspects of the initial phases of the pandemic 52 .…”

Section: Human Rights Of Older Adultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Late-life suicide in an aging world

Leo

2022

Nat Aging

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O lder people die by suicide at a disturbing rate. This sad phenomenon occurs more often in older men, particularly those over 80 years of age 1 , especially when facing conditions such as chronic pain and dependence on others, but also when suffering from loneliness, feelings of abandonment and loss of meaning for life 2 . All these conditions are risk factors for suicide 3 ; some of these factors can be controlled and their impact limited; some others may simply be too much of a burden on individuals and their families. Ageist attitudes associate old age with physical and cognitive decline (considering older adults to be frail and helpless individuals) and inevitably influence the level of care that these individuals receive 4 . Thus, opposing ageism (see definitions for key terms in Box 1) can significantly reduce the impact of the risk factors that contribute to suicidal behavior and reduce the number of fatal suicide attempts. Measures to prevent suicide attempts might also reduce suicide risk for others, as there is evidence that exposure to suicide within ones' social group increases the risk of suicidal behavior 5 .This article provides an overview of existing knowledge on suicide in old age and discusses it in the context of the global aging population, the increase in longevity around the world and the potential impact of the pandemic (Boxes 1, 2).

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“…Neubauer, Scott, Sliwinski, & Smyth (2020) showed that retrospective overestimation of negative emotions decreases with advancing age. Although the association between age and retrospective bias in the COVID-19 pandemic has not been directly examined so far, the association between age and type of retrospective reporting has been examined, showing that older adults recalled the initial phase of the pandemic with more positive emotions than did younger adults (Ford, Garcia, Fields, Cunningham, & Kensinger, 2021).…”

Section: Research Planmentioning

confidence: 99%

Retrospective bias during the COVID-19 pandemic

Yamagata

Miura

2023

JJESP

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Humans tend to distort past events, leading to a gap between experience and retrospective experience-the retrospective bias. This study clarified the characteristics of retrospective bias in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.Longitudinal data from 597 Japanese individuals were gathered during the COVID-19 pandemic from January 2020 to January 2021. Analysis revealed that cognition regarding COVID-19 one year ago was retrospectively underestimated. In addition, within-person variation among the responses of the 11 waves consistently showed a negative association with bias. These findings suggest that retrospective methods of describing long-lasting and fluctuating events will lead to inaccurate conclusions.

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Older adults remember more positive aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cited by 17 publications

References 15 publications

The power of negative and positive episodic memories

The power of negative and positive episodic memories

Late-life suicide in an aging world

Retrospective bias during the COVID-19 pandemic

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