Age Differences in Distress Following Intrusive Thoughts

项目总结/摘要 侵入性的想法是令人不快但熟悉的心灵访客。它们是常见的现象， 老年人，但很少有人知道如何的经验和后果的侵入性思想的变化， 年龄研究老年人的侵入性想法很重要，因为不必要的心理活动无处不在， 因为侵入性的想法是情绪失调的核心，产生焦虑，抑郁和健康 与发病率和死亡率相关的问题。我们建议研究年龄差异， 健康和焦虑的老年人的想法，以确定保护因素，可以帮助我们 了解情感，身体和心理健康的保护，以及可以帮助我们学习的风险因素 如何干预那些与情感问题作斗争的老年人。 在这个建议中，我们提出了一个模型来理解与年龄相关的侵入性复发差异， 思想和随之而来的痛苦。我们将对老年人和年轻人进行一系列研究， 思想抑制范式，参与者将试图抑制他们的侵入性思想。这 范式可靠地eletroned侵入性的想法，这将使我们能够评估年龄差异的复发 以及试图控制这些思想的尝试，赋予思想的意义，以及 思想引起痛苦。接下来，计划进行一系列操作，以检查潜在的机制 侵入性思想的年龄差异，例如操纵赋予思想的意义和改变 可用工作记忆容量。我们将研究与年龄相关的保护和风险因素， 侵入性想法，以确定它们何时导致情绪失调， 成功的衰老最后，我们将测试该模型的翻译潜力，包括简短的干预研究 与焦虑的老年人，以确定是否训练这些成年人分配较少的威胁意义， 他们的侵入性想法可以减少他们的痛苦。我们还将评估侵入性思维的影响， 因此，在老年人的日常功能的困扰，检查关键领域，如决策。 最终，通过研究侵入性想法和痛苦之间的联系，我们可以提高对 情绪与认知的相互作用及其与衰老的相互作用。

Project Summary/Abstract Intrusive thoughts are unpleasant but familiar visitors to the mind. They are a common occurrence for older adults, but little is known about how the experience and consequences of intrusive thoughts change with age. Studying intrusive thoughts in older adults is important because unwanted mental activity is so ubiquitous, and because intrusive thoughts are central to emotion dysregulation, producing anxiety, depression and health problems that are tied to morbidity and mortality. We propose to study age differences in response to intrusive thoughts among healthy and anxious older adults to determine both the protective factors that can help us understand preservation of emotional, physical and mental health, and the risk factors that can help us learn how to intervene with those older adults who are struggling with emotional difficulties. In this proposal, we lay out a model to understand age-related differences in the recurrence of intrusive thoughts and ensuing distress. We will conduct a series of studies with older and younger adults using a thought suppression paradigm where participants will attempt to suppress their intrusive thoughts. This paradigm reliably elicits intrusive thoughts, which will allow us to evaluate age differences in the recurrence and attempts made to control these thoughts, meanings assigned to the thoughts, and the degree to which the thoughts provoke distress. Next, a series of manipulations are planned to examine the mechanisms underlying age differences in intrusive thoughts, such as manipulating the meaning assigned to thoughts and altering available working memory capacity. We will examine both age-related protective and risk factors for managing intrusive thoughts to determine when they contribute to emotion dysregulation versus when they contribute to successful aging. Finally, we will test the translational potential of the model, including brief intervention studies with anxious older adults to determine whether training these adults to assign less threatening meanings to their intrusive thoughts can reduce their distress. We will also evaluate the impact of intrusive thoughts and consequent distress on daily functioning in older adults, examining critical domains such as decision making. Ultimately, by examining the link between intrusive thoughts and distress, we can improve understanding of the interplay between emotion and cognition and their interaction with aging.