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Daily Assessment of Executive Functioning and Expressive Suppression Predict Daily Functioning among Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 October 2021

Stacey L. Brothers Open the ORCID record for Stacey L. Brothers [Opens in a new window]  and
Yana Suchy Open the ORCID record for Yana Suchy [Opens in a new window]
Stacey L. Brothers
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Yana Suchy*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
*
*Correspondence and reprint requests to: Yana Suchy, Department of Psychology, University of Utah, 380 S. 1530 E., Rm. 502, Salt Lake City, UT84112, USA. E-mail: yana.suchy@psych.utah.edu
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Abstract

Objective:

Executive functioning (EF) is known to be associated with performance of instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). However, prior research has found that the degree to which EF fluctuates was more predictive of self-reported cognitive and IADL lapses than was average EF performance. One source of such EF fluctuations is engagement in an emotion regulation strategy known as expressive suppression (ES). Importantly, ES has also been shown to relate to IADL performance, presumably due to its impact on EF. However, past research is limited due to assessing IADLs only in the laboratory or via self-report. The present study examined (a) the association of daily EF and ES fluctuations with performance of actual IADL tasks in participants’ homes, and (b) whether any significant association between ES fluctuations and daily IADLs would be mediated by daily EF variability.

Method:

Participants were 52 older adults aged 60 to 95. Over the course of 18 days while at home, participants completed daily IADL tasks as well as daily measures of EF and ES via ecological momentary assessment.

Results:

Contrary to our hypothesis, average EF across days predicted at-home IADLs above and beyond daily EF variability, which itself was also predictive. ES variability also predicted daily IADLs, and this association was fully mediated by average daily EF.

Conclusions:

Daily fluctuations in ES appear to have a deleterious impact on performance of IADLs at home, likely due to the impact of such fluctuations on EF, although the average level of EF capacity is also important.

Keywords

Instrumental activities of daily livingDaily variabilityIntra-individual variabilityCognitive controlEmotion regulationAffective suppressionAging
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 28 , Issue 9 , October 2022 , pp. 974 - 983
Copyright
Copyright © INS. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2021

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