Hostname: page-component-7f64f4797f-9t7q9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-11-04T08:17:34.825Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

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, UT 84112, USA. E-mail: yana.suchy@psych.utah.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

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

Information

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

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

REFERENCES

Almondes, K. M. de, Costa, M. V., Malloy-Diniz, L. F., & Diniz, B. S. (2016). Insomnia and risk of dementia in older adults: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 77, 109–115. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JPSYCHIRES.2016.02.021 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Anderson, V., Jacobs, R., & Anderson, P. J. (2008). Executive functions and the frontal lobes : a lifespan perspective. Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar
Baumeister, R F, & Alquist, J. (2009). Is there a downside to good self-control? Self and Identity, 8(2), 115–130. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298860802501474 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baumeister, Roy F. (2002). Ego Depletion and Self-Control Failure: An Energy Model of the Self’s Executive Function. Self and Identity, 1(2), 129–136. https://doi.org/10.1080/152988602317319302 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baumeister, Roy F., Schmeichel, B. J., & Vohs, K. D. (2007). Self-regulation and the executive function: The self as controlling agent. (Kruglanski, A. & Higgins, T., Eds.) (2nd ed.). New York, New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Bell-McGinty, S., Podell, K., Franzen, M., Baird, A. D., & Williams, M. J. (2002). Standard measures of executive function in predicting instrumental activities of daily living in older adults. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 17(9), 828–834. https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.646 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blain, B., Hollard, G., & Pessiglione, M. (2016). Neural mechanisms underlying the impact of daylong cognitive work on economic decisions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(25), 6967–6972.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boyle, P. A., Malloy, P. F., Salloway, S., Cahn-Weiner, D. A., Cohen, R., & Cummings, J. L. (2003). Executive dysfunction and apathy predict functional impairment in Alzheimer disease. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry : Official Journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, 11(2), 214–221.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chen, S., Burton, C. L., & Bonanno, G. (2020). The Suppression Paradox: A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Suppression Frequency, Suppression Ability, and Depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 274, 183–189.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cutuli, D. (2014). Cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression strategies role in the emotion regulation: an overview on their modulatory effects and neural correlates. Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience, 8, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2014.00175 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Delis, D. C., Kaplan, E., & Kramer, J. H. (2001). Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System: Examiner’s Manual. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Delis, D. C., Kramer, J. H., Kaplan, E., & Holdnack, J. (2004). Reliability and validity of the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System: An Update. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 10, 301–303.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dorbath, L., Hasselhorn, M., & Titz, C. (2013). Effects of Education on Executive Functioning and its Trainability. Educational Gerontology, 39(5), 314–325. https://doi.org/10.1080/03601277.2012.700820 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eggermont, L. H. P., Leveille, S. G., Shi, L., Kiely, D. K., Shmerling, R. H., Jones, R. N., … Bean, J. F. (2014). Pain characteristics associated with the onset of disability in older adults: the maintenance of balance, independent living, intellect, and zest in the Elderly Boston Study. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 62(6), 1007–1016. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.12848 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Franchow, E., & Suchy, Y. (2017). Expressive Suppression Depletes Executive Functioning in Older Adulthood. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society : JINS, 23(4), 341–351. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1355617717000054 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Franchow, E I, & Suchy, Y. (2015). Naturally-occurring expressive suppression in daily life depletes executive functioning. Emotion, 15(1), 78–89.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fung, C. H., Martin, J. L., Chung, C., Fiorentino, L., Mitchell, M., Josephson, K. R., … Alessia, C. (2012). Sleep Disturbance Among Older Adults in Assisted Living Facilities. Americal Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 20(6), 485–493.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gamaldo, A. A., & Allaire, J. C. (2016). Daily Fluctuations in Everyday Cognition. Journal of Aging and Health, 28(5), 834–849. https://doi.org/10.1177/0898264315611669 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gildengers, A. G., Butters, M. A., Chisholm, D., Rogers, J. C., Holm, M. B., Bhalla, R. K., … Mulsant, B. H. (2007). Cognitive functioning and instrumental activities of daily living in late-life bipolar disorder. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry : Official Journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, 15(2), 174–179. https://doi.org/10.1097/JGP.0b013e31802dd367 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Giovannetti, T., Mis, R., Hackett, K., Simone, S. M., & Ungrady, M. B. (2021). The goal-control model: An integrated neuropsychological framework to explain impaired performance of everyday activities. Neuropsychology, 35(1), 3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gross, J. J. (1998). Antecedent- and response-focused emotion regulation: Divergent consequences for experience, expression, and physiology. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(1), 224–237. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.74.1.224 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gyurak, A., Goodkind, M. S., Kramer, J. H., Miller, B. L., & Levenson, R. W. (2012). Executive functions and the down-regulation and up-regulation of emotion. Cognition & Emotion, 26(1), 103–118. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2011.557291 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hanewinckel, R., Maksimovic, A., Verlinden, V. J. A., van der Geest, J. N., Hofman, A., van Doorn, P. A., … Ikram, M. A. (2015). The Impact of Restless Legs Syndrome on Physical Functioning in a Community-Dwelling Population of Middle-Aged and Elderly People. Sleep Medicine, 16(3), 399–405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hermann, A., Bieber, A., Keck, T., Vaitl, D., & Stark, R. (2014). Brain structural basis of cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 9(9), 1435–1442. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nst130 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Higgins, D. M., Martin, A. M., Baker, D. G., Vasterling, J. J., & Risbrough, V. (2017). The Relationship between Chronic Pain and Neurocognitive Function. The Clinical Journal of Pain, 1. https://doi.org/10.1097/AJP.0000000000000536 Google Scholar
Holanda, F. W. N., de Almondes, K. M., & Almondes, K. M. de. (2016). Sleep and executive functions in older adults: A systematic review. Dementia & Neuropsychologia, 10(3), 185–197. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1980-5764-2016DN1003004 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holfeld, B., & Ruthig, J. (2012). A Longitudinal Examination of Sleep Quality and Physical Activity in Older Adults. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 33(7), 791–807.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Inzlicht, M., & Gutsell, J. N. (2007). Running on empty: Neural signals for self- control failure. Psychological Science, 18(11), 933–937. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.02004.x CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jefferson, A. L., Paul, R. H., Ozonoff, A., & Cohen, R. A. (2006). Evaluating elements of executive functioning as predictors of instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 21(4), 311–320. Retrieved from CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jekel, K., Damian, M., Storf, H., Hausner, L., & Frolich, L. (2016). Development of a Proxy-Free Objective Assessment Tool of Instrumental Activities of Daily Living in Mild Cognitive Impairment Using Smart Home Technologies. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 52(2), 509–517.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
John, O. P., & Gross, J. J. (2004). Healthy and unhealthy emotion regulation: Personality processes, individual differences, and life span development. Journal of Personality, 72(6), 1301–1333. Retrieved from CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jurica, P., Leitten, C., & Mattis, S. (2001). Dementia Rating Scale-2: Professional Manual. (Lutz, F., Ed.). Psychological Assessment Resources.Google Scholar
Lezak, M. D., Howieson, D. B., Bigler, E. D., & Tranel, D. (2012). Neuropsychological assessment (5th ed.). New York, New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Li, P., Wang, W., Fan, C., Zhu, C., Li, S., Zhang, Z., … Luo, W. (2017). Distraction and Expressive Suppression Strategies in Regulation of High- and Low-Intensity Negative Emotions. Scientific Reports, 7(1).Google ScholarPubMed
McRae, K., Jacobs, S. E., Ray, R. D., John, O. P., & Gross, J. J. (2012). Individual differences in reappraisal ability: Links to reappraisal frequency, well-being, and cognitive control. Journal of Research in Personality, 46(1), 2–7. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=psyh&AN=2011-26256-001&site=ehost-live CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Niermeyer, M. A., & Suchy, Y. (2020a). The vulnerability of executive functioning: The additive effects of recent non-restorative sleep, pain interference, and use of expressive suppression on test performance. Clinical Neuropsychologist, 34(4), 700–719. https://doi.org/10.1080/13854046.2019.1696892 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Niermeyer, M. A., & Suchy, Y. (2020b). Walking, talking, and suppressing: Executive functioning mediates the relationship between higher expressive suppression and slower dual-task walking among older adults. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 34(4), 775–796. https://doi.org/10.1080/13854046.2019.1704436 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Niermeyer, M. A., Ziemnik, R. E., Franchow, E. I., Barron, C. A., & Suchy, Y. (2019). Greater naturally occurring expressive suppression is associated with poorer executive functioning and motor-sequence learning among older adults. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 41(2), 118–132. https://doi.org/10.1080/13803395.2018.1502257 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Park, M., Buchman, A., Lim, A. S., Leurgans, S. E., & Bennett, D. A. (2014). Sleep complaints and incident disability in a community-based cohort study of older persons. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 22(7), 718–726.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pasina, L., Brucato, A. L., Falcone, C., Cucchi, E., Bresciani, A., Sottocorno, M., … Nobili, A. (2014). Medication Non-Adherence Among Elderly Patients Newly Discharged and Receiving Polypharmacy. Drugs and Aging, 31(4), 283–289.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schmeichel, B. J. (2007). Attention control, memory updating, and emotion regulation temporarily reduce the capacity for executive control. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 136(2), 241–255. Retrieved from CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schmitter-Edgecombe, M., Sumida, C., & Cook, D. J. (2020). Bridging the gap between performance-based assessment and self-reported everyday functioning: An ecological momentary assessment approach. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/13854046.2020.1733097 Google Scholar
Schweitzer, P., Husky, M., Allard, M., Amieva, H., Péres, K., Foubert-Samier, A., … & Swendsen, J. (2017). Feasibility and validity of mobile cognitive testing in the investigation of age-related cognitive decline. International journal of methods in psychiatric research, 26(3), e1521.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Soto, J. A., Perez, C. R., Kim, Y.-H., Lee, E. A., & Minnick, M. R. (2011). Is Expressive Suppression Always Associated with Poorer Psychological Functioning? A Cross-Cultural Comparison between European Americans and Hong Kong Chinese. Emotion, 11(6), 1450–1455.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spira, A. P., Chen-Edinboro, L. P., Wu, M. N., & Yaffe, K. (2014). Impact of sleep on the risk of cognitive decline and dementia. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 27(6), 478–483. https://doi.org/10.1097/YCO.0000000000000106 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spira, A. P., Covinsky, K., Rebok, G. W., Punjabi, N. M., Stone, K. L., Hillier, T. A., … Yaffe, K. (2012). Poor Sleep Quality and Functional Decline in Older Women. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society2, 60(6), 1092–1098.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spira, A., Stone, K. L., Rebok, G. W., Punjabi, N. M., Redline, S., Ancoli-Israel, S., & Yaffe, K. (2014). Sleep-Disordered Breathing and Functional Decline in Older Women. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 62(11), 2040–2046.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Strauss, E., Macdonald, S. W. S., Hunter, M., Moll, A., & Hultsch, D. F. (2019). Intraindividual variability in cognitive performance in three groups of older adults: Cross-domain links to physical status and self-perceived affect and beliefs. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1355617702870035CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stroop, J. R. (1935). Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 18(6): 643–663.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuss, D. T., & Knight, R. T. (2002). Principles of frontal lobe function. Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Suchy, Y. (2015). Executive functioning: A comprehensive guide for clinical practice. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Suchy, Y., Brothers, S. L., Mullen, C. M., & Niermeyer, M. A. (2020). Chronic versus recent expressive suppression burden are differentially associated with cognitive performance among older adults. Journal of the Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 42(8), 834–848.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Suchy, Y., Kraybill, M. L., & Franchow, E. I. (2011). Instrumental activities of daily living among community-dwelling older adults: Discrepancies between self-report and performance are mediated by cognitive reserve. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 33(1), 92–100. https://doi.org/10.1080/13803395.2010.493148 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Suchy, Y., Niermeyer, M. A., Franchow, E. I., & Ziemnik, R. (2019). Deleterious impact of expressive suppression on test performance persists at one-year follow-up in community-dwelling older adults. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 25(1), 29–38. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1355617718000838 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Suchy, Y., Ziemnik, R. E., Niermeyer, M. A., & Brothers, S. L. (2019). Executive Functioning Interacts with Complexity of Daily Life in Predicting Daily Medication Management among Older Adults. The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 34(4).Google ScholarPubMed
Szczygieł, D., & Maruszewski, T. (2015). Why expressive suppression does not pay? Cognitive costs of negative emotion suppression: The mediating role of subjective tense-arousal. Polish Psychological Bulletin, 46(3), 336–349. https://doi.org/10.1515/ppb-2015-0041 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thakral, M., Shi, L., Foust, J. B., Patel, K. V, Shmerling, R. H., Bean, J. F., & Leveille, S. G. (2019). Persistent Pain Quality as a Novel Approach to Assessing Risk for Disability in Community-Dwelling Elders with Chronic Pain. The Journals of Gerontology, 74(5).Google ScholarPubMed
Thiruchselvam, T., Naglie, G., Moineddin, R., Charles, J., Orlando, L., Jaglal, S., … Tierney, M. C. (2012). Risk Factors for Medication Nonadherence in Older Adults with Cognitive Impairment who Live Alone. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry2, 27(12), 1275–1282.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thomson, R. A., Overall, N. C., Cameron, L. D., & Low, R. S. T. (2018). Perceived regard, expressive suppression during conflict, and conflict resolution. Journal of Family Psychology : JFP : Journal of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association (Division 43), 32(6), 722–732. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000429 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weakley, A., Weakley, A., & Schmitter-Edgecombe, M. (2019). Compensatory Strategy Use Improves Real-World Functional Performance in Community Dwelling Older Adults. Neuropsychology, 33(8), 1121–1135.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wechsler, D. (2008). Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-4th edition: Technical and interpretative manual. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.Google Scholar
Weizenbaum, E., Torous, J., & Fulford, D. (2020). Cognition in context: understanding the everyday predictors of cognitive performance in a new era of measurement. JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 8(7), e14328.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, C. S., Tinetti, M. E., Kasl, S. V., & Peduzzi, P. N. (2006). The Role of Pain in the Recovery of Instrumental and Social Functioning after Hip Fracture. Journal of Aging and Health, 18(5), 743–762.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yesavage, J. A. (1988). Geriatric depression scale. Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 24(4), 709–711.Google ScholarPubMed
Ziemnik, R. E., & Suchy, Y. (2019). Ecological validity of performance-based measures of executive functions: Is face validity necessary for prediction of daily functioning? Psychological Assessment, 31(11), 1307–1318.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zilbershlag, Y., & Josman, N. (2019). The Functional Cognitive Evaluation and Model to Assess Older Adults’ Ability to Function in their Homes in the Community. Physical & Occupational Therapy in Geriatrics, 37(3), 141–170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Brothers and Suchy supplementary material

Brothers and Suchy supplementary material

Download Brothers and Suchy supplementary material(File)
File 925.6 KB