The effect of stereotype threat on older people’s clinical cognitive outcomes: investigating the moderating role of dementia worry

Fresson, Megan; Dardenne, Benoît; Geurten, Marie; Meulemans, Thierry

doi:10.1080/13854046.2017.1307456

Cited by 34 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…First published online 13 Oct 2020 fear of perceiving normal cognitive changes as indications of dementia. Since then, the terms "dementia fear" (Cantegreil-Kallen and Pin, 2011;Ebert et al, 2019;Norman et al, 2019;Page et al, 2019), "dementia worry" (Fresson et al, 2017;Kessler et al, 2012;Kinzer and Suhr, 2016;Molden and Maxfield, 2016;Phillips et al, 2017;Ryu and Park, 2019;Wong et al, 2019), and "concerns about dementia" (Tang et al, 2017;Werner et al, 2013) have been used interchangeably, and almost exclusively to examine concerns about developing AD. Kessler and colleagues (2012) were the first to provide a clearer conceptualization of the construct by defining dementia fear as a multidimensional concept composed of cognitive (i.e.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fear about Alzheimer’s disease among Israeli and German laypersons, persons with Mild Neurocognitive Disorder and their relatives: a qualitative study

Werner

Ulitsa

Shephet

et al. 2020

Int. Psychogeriatr.

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Objectives: Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common type of dementia, is one of the most feared diseases, obstructing help-seeking, and leading to discrimination. While research interest in fear of developing AD is increasing, little is known about its characterization, triggers, and consequences, especially among different cultures. In this study, we aimed at exploring and characterizing AD fear as experienced by laypersons (LP), persons with Mild Neurocognitive Disorder (MND), and their relatives, in Israel and Germany. Design: A qualitative study using focus groups (FGs) and semi-structured interviews was used. Thematic content analysis was conducted to extract key themes. Setting: Israeli and German not yet diagnosed people. Participants: The study included a total of 130 participants (63 Israeli and 67 German participants) representing 3 groups: LP (n = 82), persons with MND (n = 28), and relatives of persons with MND (n = 20). Results: Two overarching themes were identified across groups and countries: fear of developing AD and fear of stigmatization. Other types of fear, such as fear of a person with AD, fear about the impact of a diagnosis of AD on family members, fear of becoming a caregiver, and fear of losing one’s self-determination because of developing AD, were specific to a group type or country. Different types of fear were awakened by different triggers, and were dealt with different coping strategies.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fear about Alzheimer’s disease among Israeli and German laypersons, persons with Mild Neurocognitive Disorder and their relatives: a qualitative study

Werner

Ulitsa

Shephet

et al. 2020

Int. Psychogeriatr.

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“…Stereotype threat effects in OAs' memory performance in clinical assessment are now well known (e.g., Barber, Mather, & Gatz, 2015;Fresson, Dardenne, Geurten, & Meulemans, 2017;Hess, Auman, Colcombe, & Rahhal, 2003). Yet, little effort has been made to reduce it.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

True performance: reducing stereotype threat effect in older adults’ clinical assessment of memory

Follenfant

Atzeni

2019

Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition

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Empirical studies suggest that memory loss with age is based not only on biological, but also on contextual factors. In line with the stereotype threat (ST) theory, it is argued that the features of the standard clinical situation may contribute to an underestimation of memory performance in older adults (OA). To prevent these shortcomings, we proposed and tested two different interventions that are easy to implement in clinical settings: individuation and selfhandicapping. Results indicate that the individuation intervention appears to be a promising solution to alleviate the ST burden in clinical assessment of memory.

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“…Stereotype effects may also be moderated by pre-existing individual beliefs about memory and age. Evidence suggests memory self-efficacy and one's evaluation of their memory at baseline may moderate stereotype effects, and that individuals with low memory self-efficacy and higher dementia worry are the ones most susceptible to stereotype effects in clinical settings (Desrichard and Köpetz, 2005;Fresson et al, 2017;Schlemmer and Desrichard, 2018; but see Chasteen et al, 2005). Stereotype effects may also be moderated by memory achievement, or the value and importance a person places on their memory.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Naturalistic Age Stereotype Activation

Strickland-Hughes

West

2021

Front. Psychol.

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Almost self-fulfilling, commonly held negative stereotypes about old age and memory can impair older adults’ episodic memory performance, due to age-based stereotype threat or self-stereotyping effects. Research studies demonstrating detrimental impacts of age stereotypes on memory performance are generally conducted in research laboratories or medical settings, which often underestimate memory abilities of older adults. To better understand the “real world” impact of negative age and memory stereotypes on episodic memory, the present research tested story recall performance of late middle-aged and older adults (N = 51) following a naturalistic age stereotype manipulation, wherein every day, newspaper-style materials (comics and puzzles) were either embedded with negative age and memory stereotype stimuli (stereotype group) or neutral stimuli (control group). Furthermore, all participants were tested in favorable, familiar environments. Potential moderators of the stereotype effects, e.g., metamemory beliefs, were assessed at baseline. Current memory evaluation and subjective age, as well as perceived stereotype threat and task-related anxiety, were assessed following the stereotype manipulation as potential mechanisms of the expected stereotype effects. Results suggested a contrast effect, as the stereotype group demonstrated superior story recall performance compared to the control group. Marginally significant moderation effects by age and perceived stereotype threat indicated that stereotype rejection was present for late middle-aged adults but not older adults, indicative of stereotype lift, and for individuals who reported low and average, but not high, levels of perceived stereotype threat. Additionally, a trend suggested more positive memory evaluation for those in the stereotype group who reported awareness of the stereotype stimuli than those who did not notice the stimuli. These results are consistent with other research demonstrating benefits to memory performance in adulthood based on motivational and contextual factors, such as using relevant memory materials and testing in favorable conditions. Moreover, the results of this study contribute to our understanding of individuals’ responses to different types of stereotype stimuli, and the differential impact of stereotype manipulations that are subtle versus blatant. Individuals were motivated to counteract negative stereotype effects when conditions were supportive, stereotype presentations were naturalistic, and personal beliefs were positive.

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The effect of stereotype threat on older people’s clinical cognitive outcomes: investigating the moderating role of dementia worry

Abstract: Our results showed that ST can cause older people to perform at pathological levels on executive tasks. Results highlight the need for clinicians to be cautious when conducting neuropsychological assessments of older people who express high levels of dementia worry.

Cited by 34 publications

References 73 publications

Fear about Alzheimer’s disease among Israeli and German laypersons, persons with Mild Neurocognitive Disorder and their relatives: a qualitative study

Fear about Alzheimer’s disease among Israeli and German laypersons, persons with Mild Neurocognitive Disorder and their relatives: a qualitative study

True performance: reducing stereotype threat effect in older adults’ clinical assessment of memory

The Impact of Naturalistic Age Stereotype Activation

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