What is the maturity principle
Maturity Principal: increase in agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability with age
Why is there decreased prevalence of most mental heath disorders with age?
- cohort effects of reporting
- exclusion of those with severe MH concerns
- survivor effect
Older aging brings change in ability/skills
Successful aging means negotiating via:
1) selecting age appropriate goals
2) optimizing resources to meet goals
3) compensating for change in ability by using alterntive means
What is the socio-emotional selectivity theory?
- how we age impacts motivation, emotion regulation and mental health, cognitive functioning and interpersonal skills
Name 4 age specific issues related to diagnosis and treatment in older indiv
- Symptoms may be attributed to age-related instead of psychological factors
- Diagnosis complicated by comorbidity with chronic physical illness
- Older adults typically take multiple medications
- Cohort effects (ex. if ask them to complete the task on the phone, the cohort who didn’t grow up with that might do worse)
Name the 4 Aging specific mental disorders
- Depressive disorder
- Sleep-wake disorders
- Anxiety disorder
- Schizophrenia - late onset
What are the most common mental disorders in older adults?
neurocognitive disorders (dementia)
Describe the initial and Late stages of neurocognitive disorders
Initial Stages
- memory impairment, visuospatial skill deficits
- Agnosia: inability to recognize and name objects (most common symp)
- Facial agnosia
- Other: delusions, depression, agitation, aggression, apathy
Later Stages
- cognitive functioning continues to deteriorate
- Major changes in personality, emotional experience, self-care abilities
- need support
- death from inactivity
What are the clinical features of - Alzheimer’s disease
- multiple cognitive deficits that develop gradually and steadily
= aphasia - difficulty with language
= apraxia - impaired motor functioning
= agnosia - failure to recognize objects - difficulties with planning, organizing, sequencing, or abstracting info
- can include depression, agitation, confusion, anxiety, combativeness
- sundowning
What causes Alzheimer’s
- need autopsy for definitive diagnosis
- neurofibrillary tanges
- amyloid plaques
What is Vascular NCD
- progressive brain disorder characterized by blockage or damage to blood vessels
- onset is sudden (stroke)
What is clinical neuropsychology?
The application of knowledge about brain behavior relationships to the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment, of indiv with known or suspected CNS dysfunction
