Psychological and mnemonic benefits of nostalgia for people with dementia
Psychological and mnemonic benefits of nostalgia for people with dementia
Background: studies with non-clinical populations show that nostalgia increases psychological resources, such as self-esteem and social connectedness. Objectives:Our objectives were to find out if the benefits of nostalgia in non-clinical populations generalize to people with dementia and if nostalgia facilitates recall of dementia-related information.
Methods: all three experiments recruited participants with mild or moderate levels of dementia. Experiment 1 tested whether nostalgia (compared to control) enhances psychological resources among 27 participants. Experiment 2 used music to induce nostalgia (compared to control) in 29 participants. Experiment 3 compared recall for self-referent dementia statements among 50 participants randomized to either a nostalgia or control condition. Findings across experiments were synthesized with integrative data analysis.
Results: nostalgia (compared to control) significantly increased self-reported social connectedness, meaning in life, self-continuity, optimism, self-esteem, and positive (but not negative) affect (Experiments 1–3). Compared to controls, nostalgic participants also recalled significantly more self-referent dementia-related information (Experiment 3).
Conclusion: this series of experiments extends social psychological research with non-clinical populations into dementia care, providing evidence that nostalgia significantly enhances psychological resources. The finding that nostalgia increased recall of self-referent statements about dementia suggests that this emotion lends participants the fortitude to face the threat posed by their illness. The finding has potentially important clinical implications both for the development of reminiscence therapy and for facilitating adjustment to a diagnosis of dementia.
1327-1344
Ismail, S.
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Christopher, G.
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Dodd, E.
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Wildschut, T.
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Sedikides, C.
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Ingram, T.A.
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Jones, R.W.
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Noonan, K.A.
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Tingley, D.
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Cheston, R.
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25 September 2018
Ismail, S.
ba2507f2-e8b6-4068-81fe-2f30852aeef8
Christopher, G.
83f85548-c819-461d-828b-41e67ed7897f
Dodd, E.
73629d46-1742-457c-9080-de4f5116ebd6
Wildschut, T.
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Sedikides, C.
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Ingram, T.A.
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Jones, R.W.
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Noonan, K.A.
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Tingley, D.
68cf7012-0c2e-4c5f-a029-a2cc53d0dcb0
Cheston, R.
1641d447-e30c-430c-a3b0-3970742090cb
Ismail, S., Christopher, G., Dodd, E., Wildschut, T., Sedikides, C., Ingram, T.A., Jones, R.W., Noonan, K.A., Tingley, D. and Cheston, R.
(2018)
Psychological and mnemonic benefits of nostalgia for people with dementia.
Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 65 (4), .
(doi:10.3233/JAD-180075).
Abstract
Background: studies with non-clinical populations show that nostalgia increases psychological resources, such as self-esteem and social connectedness. Objectives:Our objectives were to find out if the benefits of nostalgia in non-clinical populations generalize to people with dementia and if nostalgia facilitates recall of dementia-related information.
Methods: all three experiments recruited participants with mild or moderate levels of dementia. Experiment 1 tested whether nostalgia (compared to control) enhances psychological resources among 27 participants. Experiment 2 used music to induce nostalgia (compared to control) in 29 participants. Experiment 3 compared recall for self-referent dementia statements among 50 participants randomized to either a nostalgia or control condition. Findings across experiments were synthesized with integrative data analysis.
Results: nostalgia (compared to control) significantly increased self-reported social connectedness, meaning in life, self-continuity, optimism, self-esteem, and positive (but not negative) affect (Experiments 1–3). Compared to controls, nostalgic participants also recalled significantly more self-referent dementia-related information (Experiment 3).
Conclusion: this series of experiments extends social psychological research with non-clinical populations into dementia care, providing evidence that nostalgia significantly enhances psychological resources. The finding that nostalgia increased recall of self-referent statements about dementia suggests that this emotion lends participants the fortitude to face the threat posed by their illness. The finding has potentially important clinical implications both for the development of reminiscence therapy and for facilitating adjustment to a diagnosis of dementia.
Text
Ismail et al. in press Journal of Alzheimers Disease
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 1 August 2018
e-pub ahead of print date: 20 August 2018
Published date: 25 September 2018
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 424221
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/424221
ISSN: 1387-2877
PURE UUID: 4b1ffaf8-46e4-4605-88a4-86d0e7b71964
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Date deposited: 05 Oct 2018 11:35
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:21
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Contributors
Author:
S. Ismail
Author:
G. Christopher
Author:
E. Dodd
Author:
T.A. Ingram
Author:
R.W. Jones
Author:
K.A. Noonan
Author:
D. Tingley
Author:
R. Cheston
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