The Use of Problem-Solving Therapy for Primary Care to Enhance Complex Decision-Making in Healthy Community-Dwelling Older Adults
Some older adults who are cognitively healthy have been found to make poor decisions. The vulnerability of such older adults has been postulated to be the result of disproportionate aging of the frontal lobes that contributes to a decline in executive functioning abilities among some older adults. T...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2018-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00870/full |
| _version_ | 1818177158295584768 |
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| author | Christopher M. Nguyen Christopher M. Nguyen Kuan-Hua Chen Kuan-Hua Chen Natalie L. Denburg |
| author_facet | Christopher M. Nguyen Christopher M. Nguyen Kuan-Hua Chen Kuan-Hua Chen Natalie L. Denburg |
| author_sort | Christopher M. Nguyen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Some older adults who are cognitively healthy have been found to make poor decisions. The vulnerability of such older adults has been postulated to be the result of disproportionate aging of the frontal lobes that contributes to a decline in executive functioning abilities among some older adults. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether decision-making performance in older adults can be enhanced by a psychoeducational intervention. Twenty cognitively and emotionally intact persons aged 65 years and older were recruited and randomized into two conditions: psychoeducational condition [Problem-Solving Therapy for Primary Care (PST-PC)] and no-treatment Control group. Participants in the psychoeducational condition each received four 45-min sessions of PST-PC across a 2-week period. The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) was administered as the outcome measure to the treatment group, while participants in the Control group completed the IGT without intervention. A significant interaction effect was observed between group status and the trajectory of score differences across trials on the IGT. Particularly, as the task progressed to the last 20% of trials, participants in the PST-PC group significantly outperformed participants in the Control group in terms of making more advantageous decisions. These findings demonstrated that a four-session problem-solving therapy can reinforce aspects of executive functioning (that may have declined as a part of healthy aging), thereby enhancing complex decision-making in healthy older adults. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T20:27:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6ee1780317bd492db1408a304e4ca5c6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T20:27:38Z |
| publishDate | 2018-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-6ee1780317bd492db1408a304e4ca5c62022-12-22T00:51:54ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782018-06-01910.3389/fpsyg.2018.00870324023The Use of Problem-Solving Therapy for Primary Care to Enhance Complex Decision-Making in Healthy Community-Dwelling Older AdultsChristopher M. Nguyen0Christopher M. Nguyen1Kuan-Hua Chen2Kuan-Hua Chen3Natalie L. Denburg4Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neurology, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA, United StatesDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, United StatesDivision of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neurology, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA, United StatesInstitute of Personality and Social Research, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United StatesDivision of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neurology, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA, United StatesSome older adults who are cognitively healthy have been found to make poor decisions. The vulnerability of such older adults has been postulated to be the result of disproportionate aging of the frontal lobes that contributes to a decline in executive functioning abilities among some older adults. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether decision-making performance in older adults can be enhanced by a psychoeducational intervention. Twenty cognitively and emotionally intact persons aged 65 years and older were recruited and randomized into two conditions: psychoeducational condition [Problem-Solving Therapy for Primary Care (PST-PC)] and no-treatment Control group. Participants in the psychoeducational condition each received four 45-min sessions of PST-PC across a 2-week period. The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) was administered as the outcome measure to the treatment group, while participants in the Control group completed the IGT without intervention. A significant interaction effect was observed between group status and the trajectory of score differences across trials on the IGT. Particularly, as the task progressed to the last 20% of trials, participants in the PST-PC group significantly outperformed participants in the Control group in terms of making more advantageous decisions. These findings demonstrated that a four-session problem-solving therapy can reinforce aspects of executive functioning (that may have declined as a part of healthy aging), thereby enhancing complex decision-making in healthy older adults.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00870/fullagingdecision makingexecutive functioningIowa Gambling TaskProblem-Solving Therapy for Primary Care |
| spellingShingle | Christopher M. Nguyen Christopher M. Nguyen Kuan-Hua Chen Kuan-Hua Chen Natalie L. Denburg The Use of Problem-Solving Therapy for Primary Care to Enhance Complex Decision-Making in Healthy Community-Dwelling Older Adults Frontiers in Psychology aging decision making executive functioning Iowa Gambling Task Problem-Solving Therapy for Primary Care |
| title | The Use of Problem-Solving Therapy for Primary Care to Enhance Complex Decision-Making in Healthy Community-Dwelling Older Adults |
| title_full | The Use of Problem-Solving Therapy for Primary Care to Enhance Complex Decision-Making in Healthy Community-Dwelling Older Adults |
| title_fullStr | The Use of Problem-Solving Therapy for Primary Care to Enhance Complex Decision-Making in Healthy Community-Dwelling Older Adults |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Use of Problem-Solving Therapy for Primary Care to Enhance Complex Decision-Making in Healthy Community-Dwelling Older Adults |
| title_short | The Use of Problem-Solving Therapy for Primary Care to Enhance Complex Decision-Making in Healthy Community-Dwelling Older Adults |
| title_sort | use of problem solving therapy for primary care to enhance complex decision making in healthy community dwelling older adults |
| topic | aging decision making executive functioning Iowa Gambling Task Problem-Solving Therapy for Primary Care |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00870/full |
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