To establish a structural equation model for exploring the direct and indirect relationships of depressive symptoms and their associated factors among the Chinese elderly population.

A cross-sectional research. The 2015 data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) were adopted.

CHARLS is an ongoing longitudinal study assessing the social, economic, and health status of nationally representative samples of middle-aged and elderly Chinese residents.

A total of 5791 participants aged 60 years and above were included.

Depressive symptoms were used as the study outcome. Sociodemographic characteristics, poor health status, unhealthy habits, and sleep duration were used as predictors. Confirmatory factor analysis was first conducted to test the latent variables. Structural equation model was then utilized to examine the associations among latent variables and depressive symptoms.

The mean age of the participants was 68.82 ± 6.86 years, with 55.53% being males. The total prevalence of depressive symptoms was 37.52%. The model paths indicated that sociodemographic characteristics, poor health status, unhealthy habits, and sleep duration were directly associated with depressive symptoms, and the effects were 0.281, 0.509, −0.067, and −0.162, respectively. Sociodemographic characteristics, unhealthy habits, and sleep duration were indirectly associated with depressive symptoms, mediating by poor health status. Their effects on poor health status were −0.093, 0.180, and −0.279, respectively. All paths of the model were significant (P < 0.001). The model could explain 40.9% of the variance in the depressive symptoms of the Chinese elderly population.

Depressive symptoms were significantly associated with sociodemographic characteristics, poor health status, unhealthy habits, and sleep duration among Chinese elderly population. The dominant predictor of depressive symptoms was poor health status. Targeting these results might be helpful in rationally allocating health resources during screening or other mental health promotion activities for the elderly.

Cumulative evidence suggests that health-related risk factors during midlife and old-age are associated with cognitive impairment. However, studies are needed to clarify the association between early-life risk factors and impaired cognitive functioning to increment existing knowledge.

To examine the association between childhood infectious diseases and late-life cognitive functioning in a nationally representative sample of older adults.

Eligible respondents were 2994 community-dwelling individuals aged 65–85.

Cognitive functioning was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Childhood infectious diseases (i.e. chicken pox, measles, and mumps) were self-reported. The study covariates were age, sex, highest educational level achieved, smoking status, body mass index, and depression. The primary statistical analysis examined the association between the number of childhood infectious diseases and total MMSE scores, accounting for all study covariates. Regression models of progressive complexity were examined for parsimony. The robustness of the primary results was tested in 17 sensitivity analyses.

The most parsimonious model was a linear adjusted model (Bayesian Information Criterion = 12646.09). Late-life cognitive functioning significantly improved as the number of childhood infectious diseases increased (β = 0.18; 95% CI = 0.11, 0.26; p < 0.001). This effect was not significantly attenuated in all sensitivity analyses.

The current study results are consistent with prior ecological findings indicating that some childhood infectious diseases are associated with better cognitive functioning in old-age. This points to an early-life modifiable risk factor associated with older-life cognitive functioning. Our results may reflect selective mortality and/or beneficial effects via hormetic processes.

Suicide in the elderly is a complex and significant public health problem. The purpose of our study was to examine the role of loneliness and social integration as potential mediators in the relationship between physical pain and suicidal ideation in the elderly.

Descriptive, bivariate correlations, and moderated mediation analyses were performed.

Personal meetings were held with participants in their homes.

A total of 198 elderly men aged 65 and over.

Self-report measures: Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation, Physical pain subscale, Multidimensional Social Integration in Later Life Scale, and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale (Version 3).

Our findings showed that the association between physical pain and suicidal ideation was mediated by loneliness and social integration. Further analyses revealed that this mediation model was significant among single, but not married, men.

Physical pain and social factors are both important in understanding suicidality in late life. Elderly single men who experience physical pain may be lonelier and less socially integrated, and these factors may contribute to higher risk of suicidal ideation.

The ultimate goal of artificial intelligence (AI) is to develop technologies that are best able to serve humanity. This will require advancements that go beyond the basic components of general intelligence. The term “intelligence” does not best represent the technological needs of advancing society, because it is “wisdom”, rather than intelligence, that is associated with greater well-being, happiness, health, and perhaps even longevity of the individual and the society. Thus, the future need in technology is for artificial wisdom (AW).

We examine the constructs of human intelligence and human wisdom in terms of their basic components, neurobiology, and relationship to aging, based on published empirical literature. We review the development of AI as inspired and driven by the model of human intelligence, and consider possible governing principles for AW that would enable humans to develop computers which can operationally utilize wise principles and result in wise acts. We review relevant examples of current efforts to develop such wise technologies.

AW systems will be based on developmental models of the neurobiology of human wisdom. These AW systems need to be able to a) learn from experience and self-correct; b) exhibit compassionate, unbiased, and ethical behaviors; and c) discern human emotions and help the human users to regulate their emotions and make wise decisions.

A close collaboration among computer scientists, neuroscientists, mental health experts, and ethicists is necessary for developing AW technologies, which will emulate the qualities of wise humans and thus serve the greatest benefit to humanity. Just as human intelligence and AI have helped further the understanding and usefulness of each other, human wisdom and AW can aid in promoting each other’s growth

The aim of this study was to explore the association between specific aspects of carer distress and time until nursing home admission (NHA) in people with mild dementia.

Prospective cohort study.

Participants were recruited from the Dementia Study of Western Norway (DemVest).

This study included 107 participants admitted to a nursing home who were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease (AD, n = 64) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB, n = 43) and their primary carers.

The Relative Stress Scale (RSS) was used to assess the level of reported distress in carers. Adjusted partial least square (PLS) prediction analysis of baseline items of the RSS was used to study the associations between individual items of the RSS and time until NHA.

Carer distress is an important contributor to early NHA, explaining 19.3% of the total variance of time until NHA in the model without covariates. In the adjusted PLS model, the most important RSS predictors of time until NHA were feeling frustrated (estimate = −137; CI, −209, −64.5), having limitations on social life (estimate = −118; CI, −172, −64), not being able to get away on vacation (estimate −116; CI, −158.3, −73.7), and feeling unable to cope with the situation (estimate = −63; CI, −122.6, −3.4).

Preservation of the informal care capacity represents important steps for improving the management of resources in dementia care. This study identifies aspects of carer distress associated with a shorter time until NHA. Looking beyond the sum score of the RSS helps promote the development of flexible and tailored interventions and perhaps delay NHA.