The detrimental impacts of negative age stereotypes on the episodic memory of older adults: does social participation moderate the effects?

BMC Geriatrics

Simon M. K. Lai¹  Alma M. L. Au¹  Stephen C. Y. Chan² 

[1] The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong;The Open University of Hong Kong, Good Shepherd Street, Ho Man Tin, Kowloon, Hong Kong;The Public and Social Policy Research Centre of The Open University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong;

关键词: Age stereotypes;    Episodic memory;    Older adults;    Social participation;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12877-020-01833-z

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundOlder adults’ cognitive abilities can be impaired through priming of negative age stereotypes. However, it is unclear whether the effects of negative priming can be extended to episodic memory, which is believed to be the most age-sensitive type among the long-term memory systems, in Asian populations. Social participation has recently emerged as a potential protective factor for maintaining the cognitive function of older adults. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of negative age stereotype priming on episodic memory and the moderating role of social participation in the priming effect.MethodsA total of 105 community-dwelling older adults residing in Hong Kong were randomly allocated to two experimental conditions. Participants were primed either with negative age stereotype words (n = 53) or neutral words (n = 52) using an implicit priming task. Episodic memory performance was assessed using the Hong Kong List Learning Task (HKLLT), which includes total learning, two delayed recalls and a recognition task. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to assess group differences in the priming task and memory performance, while a series of moderation analyses were performed to examine the moderating effects of social participation.ResultsThe group that received negative age stereotype priming performed significantly worse than the group that received neutral words in their episodic memory test. Additional analyses showed that socially active individuals might be less prone to the effects of negative age stereotypes for the recognition task only.ConclusionsOlder adults who are more socially active might be more immune to the effects of negative age stereotype priming on episodic memory. These results provide initial support for the hypothesis that social participation might act as an effective strategy to ward against negative age stereotype priming.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04202120 (first posted December 17, 2019), (Retrospectively registered).

【 授权许可】

CC BY