These findings have implications for the identification and treatment of suicidal ideation in older adults.

Direct care workers (e.g., certified nursing assistants [CNAs]) employed in long-term care (LTC) are particularly vulnerable to the experience of burnout, yet they have received relatively less research attention compared to Licensed Practical Nurses and Registered Nurses. Within the burnout literature, evidence suggests that the deployment of certain coping strategies influences levels of burnout. The current study examined the extent to which coping (e.g., problem-focused, emotion-focused, and dysfunctional coping) and cognitive emotion regulation strategies (e.g., positive reappraisal) predicted burnout after controlling for covariates (age, sleep duration). Fifty-six CNAs were surveyed at four skilled nursing facilities in the United States. Dysfunctional coping was significantly associated with emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Among cognitive emotion regulation strategies, positive reappraisal was significantly associated with depersonalization. Shorter sleep duration was associated with significantly greater depersonalization. Findings suggest the need to develop interventions for CNAs aimed at reducing dysfunctional coping strategies and increasing sleep duration.

Resilience is a term that refers to a person’s ability to successfully adapt to adversity. Resilience research has been relatively limited with older adults, particularly with older American Indians. Also, none of the resilience measures have been validated in older American Indians. This study’s objective was to assess the psychometric properties of the full 25-item and abbreviated 10-item versions of Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) with a sample of older American Indians. Both CD-RISC versions performed similarly in the study sample compared with what has been reported in other populations. The full version demonstrated adequate internal consistency and convergent and divergent validity, but a meaningful factor structure was not confirmed. The abbreviated version showed good internal consistency and convergent and divergent validity and appeared to have a stable one-factor solution. These findings lend greater support to the use of the abbreviated version than the full version of the CD-RISC with older American Indians.

Both the GAI and GAI-SF appear to be useful tools for assessing anxiety among nursing home residents with psychological disorders. The GAI-SF may be a viable replacement for the GAI as a screener for anxiety in long-term care.

Evidence suggests that men who strongly endorse masculine traits display an atypical presentation of depression, including more externalizing symptoms (e.g., anger or substance use), but fewer typical, internalizing symptoms (e.g., depressed mood or crying). This phenomenon has not been adequately explored in older adults or women. The current study used the externalizing subscale of the Masculine Depression Scale in older and younger men and women to detect atypical symptoms. It was predicted that individuals who more strongly endorsed masculine traits would have higher scores on the measure of externalizing symptoms relative to a measure of typical depressive symptoms Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale. It was anticipated that results would differ by age-group but not by gender. Multigroup path analysis was used to test the hypothesis. The hypothesized path model, in which endorsement of masculine traits was associated with lower scores on the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale and with scores on the externalizing, but not internalizing, factor of the Masculine Depression Scale, fit the data well. Results differed significantly by age-group and gender. Masculine individuals reported lower levels of typical depressive symptoms relative to externalizing symptoms, but further research is needed within age- and gender groups. Results are consistent with the gendered responding framework and suggest that current assessment tools, which tend to focus on internalizing symptoms of depression, may not detect depression in individuals who endorse masculine traits.