Regret and quality of life across the adult life span: The influence of disengagement and available future goals.

Two studies examined the associations between life regrets and indicators of quality of life across the adult life span. Given that opportunities to undo regrets decline with age, regret intensity was expected to be inversely associated with subjective well-being and health among older adults. In addition, the research explored protective factors that have the potential to reduce older adults' regret intensity. It was suggested that being disengaged from undoing the consequences of regrets and having many future goals available may reduce older adults' intensity of regret and thereby contribute to a better quality of life. Across both studies, the findings demonstrate that older adults perceived reduced opportunities to undo the consequences of their regrets and that regret intensity predicted a reduced quality of life only among older adults. Furthermore, the findings support the adaptive value of disengagement and available future goals for managing life regrets in older adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Diurnal cortisol secretion and 2-year changes in older adults' physical symptoms: The moderating roles of negative affect and sleep.

Objective: This study examined whether the association between cortisol secretion and changes in physical health symptoms would depend on other factors in a person's life. The authors expected that physical health effects would emerge particularly when cortisol disturbances co-occur in the context of high levels of trait negative affect or poor sleep. Design: Physical symptoms, diurnal cortisol secretion, affective tendencies, and sleep efficiency were assessed in a 2-yr longitudinal study of 184 older adults. Main Outcome Measure: Two-year changes in physical symptoms. Results: High cortisol levels were associated with increases in physical symptoms, but only among participants who experienced high negative affect and poor sleep. Conclusion: Elevated levels of cortisol secretion contribute to older adults' physical symptoms if they co-occur in the context of other emotional and behavioral problems. By contrast, cortisol disturbances may not influence physical symptoms among people who are emotionally well or engage in efficient sleep behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Physical health problems, depressive mood, and cortisol secretion in old age: Buffer effects of health engagement control strategies.

Objective: This study examined the protective role played by control behaviors aimed at overcoming physical health problems (health engagement control strategies; HECS) in the associations between older adults' physical health problems, depressive mood, and diurnal cortisol secretion. It was expected that adaptive levels of HECS would buffer the adverse effects of physical health problems on depressive mood and diurnal cortisol secretion. Design and Measures: Physical health problems and HECS were measured in a cross-sectional sample of 215 community-dwelling older adults. In addition, participants' depressive mood and patterns of diurnal cortisol secretion were assessed across 3 days. Results: The findings demonstrate that physical health problems predicted high levels of depressive mood and diurnal cortisol secretion, but only among older adults who reported low levels of HECS (and not among older adults who reported high levels of HECS). Moreover, depressive mood completely mediated the buffering effect of HECS on the association between physical health problems and cortisol secretion. Conclusion: The results suggest that adaptive levels of HECS represent a psychological mechanism that can protect older adults from experiencing the adverse emotional and biological consequences of physical health problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Moisture absorption and desorption in a UV cured urethane acrylate adhesive based on radiation source

A photopolymerizable urethane acrylate (UA) adhesive was cured using two different sources: a conventional UV‐lamp and a UV‐emitting light emitting diode (LED). Moisture uptake in cured specimens was characterized by immersion in deionized water at 21.8, 30, 37.5, and 45°C for a period of 6 months. Additionally, desorption experiments were performed for selected specimens under vacuum at room temperature. Material degradation in the form of mass loss was observed in all samples after attainment of a maximum water uptake level, with the phenomenon being more pronounced at higher immersion temperatures. This degradation is attributed to leaching and dissolution of uncured monomers and lower weight molecular species from the samples. A two stage moisture uptake model is proposed to account for mass loss and excellent agreement between the tested mass loss and the loss‐rate parameters determined from the model is shown. Performance of specimens was characterized with dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). It was found the LED source was not as effective in curing surfaces, due to which there is a higher level of mass and lower T_g from hygrothermal exposure as compared to the core regions of the LED cured specimens and the overall lamp cured specimens. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Goal adjustment capacities, coping, and subjective well-being: The sample case of caregiving for a family member with mental illness.

This study examined the associations between goal adjustment capacities, coping, and indicators of subjective well-being in 2 waves of data from individuals who provide care for a family member with mental illness. We hypothesized that goal adjustment capacities would predict higher levels of subjective well-being by facilitating coping with caregiving stress. Results showed that goal disengagement was associated with effective care-specific coping (e.g., less self-blame and substance use). Goal reengagement was also associated with effective care-specific coping (e.g., positive reframing), but at the same time it predicted the use of less effective strategies (e.g., venting and self-distraction). Moreover, goal disengagement predicted lower levels of caregiver burden and depressive symptoms and buffered the longitudinal effect of caregiver burden on increases in depressive symptoms. Goal reengagement, by contrast, predicted higher levels of caregiver burden and purpose in life and buffered the cross-sectional association between caregiver burden and depressive symptoms. Finally, effective (and less useful) care-specific coping statistically explained the adaptive (and maladaptive) effects of goal adjustment capacities on participants' well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Peceived control of life regrets: Good for young and bad for old adults.

Age differences in the associations among intensity of regret, control attributions, and intrusive thoughts were investigated (N = 122, age range = 20-87 years). Given that the opportunities to overcome regrettable behavior decline with age, older adults' attributions of low internal control were expected to serve self-protective functions and facilitate deactivation of regret. In younger adults, by contrast, high levels of internal-control attributions might facilitate active change of regrettable behavior, resulting in low intensities of regret. The results showed that internal-control attributions were related to high intensity of regret and intrusive thoughts in older adults. Among younger adults, however, internal-control attributions were associated with low intensity of regret and low levels of intrusive thoughts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depressive symptoms can be useful: Self-regulatory and emotional benefits of dysphoric mood in adolescence.

Propositions derived from evolutionary biology and personality psychology suggest that depressive symptoms may serve adaptive functions by enabling people to adjust to unattainable goals, which in turn promotes quality of life. The authors tested this hypothesis in a longitudinal study of adolescent girls involving 4 waves of data collected over approximately 19 months. The authors expected that high baseline levels of depressive symptoms would facilitate the development of adolescents’ goal adjustment capacities (i.e., goal disengagement capacities and goal reengagement capacities). In addition, the authors expected that improvements in goal adjustment capacities over time would presage lower levels of subsequent depressive symptoms. Data from the first 3 waves produced results demonstrating that baseline levels of depressive symptoms predicted an increase in goal disengagement capacities over time but not in goal reengagement capacities. Moreover, increases in goal disengagement capacities predicted a reduction in subsequent depressive symptoms. The findings suggest that depressive symptomatology may serve adaptive functions by facilitating the development of goal disengagement capacities in adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Regret intensity, diurnal cortisol secretion, and physical health in older individuals: Evidence for directional effects and protective factors.

Two studies were conducted to examine the associations between life regrets and health-relevant variables among older adults. Study 1 explored whether intense experiences of regret would be associated with a health-relevant biological process (i.e., diurnal cortisol secretion) and acute physical problems (N = 183). In Study 2, a group of 103 older adults was followed over a period of 3 months, and changes in cold symptoms and sleep problems were examined. Study 2 incorporated an experimental manipulation, targeted at engaging participants in adaptive social- cognitive processes through writing. The results of Study 1 showed intense life regrets to be associated with a larger volume and a steeper morning rise of cortisol secretion and with higher levels of acute physical symptoms. Study 2 demonstrated that levels of regret intensity generally declined only in the experimental group, whereas certain aspects of regret intensity remained stable in the control group. In addition, the intervention evidenced a beneficial effect on the association between initial regret intensity and increased sleep problems over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)