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Expressive Suppression Depletes Executive Functioning in Older Adulthood

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 March 2017

E. I. Franchow*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
Yana Suchy
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to: Emilie I. Franchow, Department of Psychology, 380 S. 1530 E. Room 502, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112. E-mail: emilie.franchow@psych.utah.edu

Abstract

Objectives: Accurate detection of executive dysfunction in neuropsychological assessments is complicated by the fact that executive functioning (EF) is vulnerable to temporary disruption (i.e., lapses), with more frequent lapses in older adulthood. Effortful regulation of affect (i.e., expressive suppression) is a well-known source of executive lapses in younger adults, but the generalizability of this depleting effect to older adults is unknown. The purpose of this study was to (1) determine whether EF is subject to depletion via expressive suppression and (2) to examine whether this effect is unique to EF, or whether it also applies to lower-order component processes in older adults. Methods: Ninety-seven non-demented, community-dwelling older adults were randomly assigned to either an expressive suppression group or control group. We compared performance of the groups on a battery of tests measuring EF and component processes both before and after exposure to emotionally evocative stimuli. Results: Consistent with the hypothesized depletion effect, suppressing participants showed an attenuated practice effect on post-manipulation EF relative to controls, while performance on lower-order component processes was unaffected by suppression. Conclusions: These results suggest that depletion contributes to executive lapses in older adulthood. (JINS, 2017, 23, 341–351)

Type
Research Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2017 

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