The Use of Problem-Solving Therapy for Primary Care to Enhance Complex Decision-Making in Healthy Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Christopher M Nguyen; Kuan-Hua Chen; Natalie L Denburg

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00870

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The Use of Problem-Solving Therapy for Primary Care to Enhance Complex Decision-Making in Healthy Community-Dwelling Older Adults

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The Use of Problem-Solving Therapy for Primary Care to Enhance Complex Decision-Making in Healthy Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Christopher M Nguyen, Kuan-Hua Chen and Natalie L Denburg

Frontiers in psychology, Vol.9, pp.870-870

06/13/2018

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00870

PMCID: PMC6009335

PMID: 29951011

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Abstract

Some older adults who are cognitively healthy have been found to make poor decisions. The vulnerability of such older adults has been postulated to be the result of disproportionate aging of the frontal lobes that contributes to a decline in executive functioning abilities among some older adults. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether decision-making performance in older adults can be enhanced by a psychoeducational intervention. Twenty cognitively and emotionally intact persons aged 65 years and older were recruited and randomized into two conditions: psychoeducational condition [Problem-Solving Therapy for Primary Care (PST-PC)] and no-treatment Control group. Participants in the psychoeducational condition each received four 45-min sessions of PST-PC across a 2-week period. The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) was administered as the outcome measure to the treatment group, while participants in the Control group completed the IGT without intervention. A significant interaction effect was observed between group status and the trajectory of score differences across trials on the IGT. Particularly, as the task progressed to the last 20% of trials, participants in the PST-PC group significantly outperformed participants in the Control group in terms of making more advantageous decisions. These findings demonstrated that a four-session problem-solving therapy can reinforce aspects of executive functioning (that may have declined as a part of healthy aging), thereby enhancing complex decision-making in healthy older adults.

Problem-Solving Therapy for Primary Care

aging

Iowa Gambling Task

executive functioning

Psychology

decision making

Details

Title: Subtitle: The Use of Problem-Solving Therapy for Primary Care to Enhance Complex Decision-Making in Healthy Community-Dwelling Older Adults
Creators: Christopher M Nguyen - Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neurology, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine
Kuan-Hua Chen - Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neurology, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine
Natalie L Denburg - Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Neurology, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Frontiers in psychology, Vol.9, pp.870-870
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00870
PMID: 29951011
PMCID: PMC6009335
NLM abbreviation: Front Psychol
ISSN: 1664-1078
eISSN: 1664-1078
Publisher: Frontiers Media S.A
Grant note: American Psychological Association
Language: English
Date published: 06/13/2018
Academic Unit: Neurology; Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
Record Identifier: 9984070221302771

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