Recent decades have seen growing empirical research in wisdom as a complex, trait-based psychological characteristic. Wisdom has been shown to possess individual and societal benefits through associations with health and well-being, but it has not yet been evaluated in people with schizophrenia (PwS). In the current study, we administered a widely used, validated 3-dimensional wisdom scale that includes three interrelated dimensions: cognitive, reflective, and affective. We examined group differences in wisdom, as well as relationships between wisdom and sociodemographics, clinical symptoms, neurocognitive and functional performance, and mental and physical health in 65 stable adult outpatients with chronic schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and 96 non-psychiatric comparison participants (NPCPs). Results showed that PwS had lower wisdom scores than NPCPs and that wisdom moderated relationships between diagnostic group and neurocognitive and functional performance; PwS with higher levels of wisdom demonstrated better cognitive performance than did PwS with lower levels of wisdom. In addition, wisdom was positively correlated with performances on multiple neurocognitive tasks in PwS, but not in NPCPs. Finally, reflective wisdom - representing accurate/unbiased introspection and perspective-taking - correlated with all mental health variables in PwS. Our results were limited by a cross-sectional design, but suggest that wisdom, especially reflective wisdom, may be associated with better cognitive performance and better physical and mental health in PwS. It is conceivable that interventions to enhance wisdom may have broad cognitive and mental and physical health benefits in individuals with chronic psychotic disorders.

Background and objectives

Negative age stereotypes can become internalized and contribute to lower levels of physical and mental well-being in older adults, including those with serious illnesses. The main objective of this study was to examine the relationships of attitude toward own aging (ATOA) with health outcomes after controlling for resilience among older cancer survivors and comparison subjects without cancer, aged 50 years or older.

Methods

We examined data in 1,140 adults from the Successful Aging Evaluation (SAGE) study, a structured multi-cohort investigation of community-based adults selected using random digit dialing. There were 219 participants with cancer (excluding skin cancer) and 912 without cancer. ATOA was assessed with the Philadelphia Geriatric Morale Scale, and its relationship with measures of physical, cognitive, and mental health, as well as resilience was evaluated.

Results

Individuals with cancer reported slightly more pessimistic ATOA than individuals without cancer. ATOA correlated with physical and mental health in individuals with and without cancer. Hierarchical linear multiple regression revealed that ATOA contributed significantly to the prediction of physical and mental health after controlling for socio-demographic variables and resilience.

Discussion and implications

Higher levels of positive ATOA appear to be a protective factor for health in older adults, including those with cancer. Interventions that provide education about positive aspects of aging, modify negative automatic thoughts, and promote optimism may be useful for increasing ATOA and thereby improving physical and mental health in older adults, especially those with cancer.

Recent decades have seen growing empirical research in wisdom as a complex, trait-based psychological characteristic. Wisdom has been shown to possess individual and societal benefits through associations with health and well-being, but it has not yet been evaluated in people with schizophrenia (PwS). In the current study, we administered a widely used, validated 3-dimensional wisdom scale that includes three interrelated dimensions: cognitive, reflective, and affective. We examined group differences in wisdom, as well as relationships between wisdom and sociodemographics, clinical symptoms, neurocognitive and functional performance, and mental and physical health in 65 stable adult outpatients with chronic schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and 96 non-psychiatric comparison participants (NPCPs). Results showed that PwS had lower wisdom scores than NPCPs and that wisdom moderated relationships between diagnostic group and neurocognitive and functional performance; PwS with higher levels of wisdom demonstrated better cognitive performance than did PwS with lower levels of wisdom. In addition, wisdom was positively correlated with performances on multiple neurocognitive tasks in PwS, but not in NPCPs. Finally, reflective wisdom - representing accurate/unbiased introspection and perspective-taking - correlated with all mental health variables in PwS. Our results were limited by a cross-sectional design, but suggest that wisdom, especially reflective wisdom, may be associated with better cognitive performance and better physical and mental health in PwS. It is conceivable that interventions to enhance wisdom may have broad cognitive and mental and physical health benefits in individuals with chronic psychotic disorders.

Purpose

With a growing need for developing future physician scientists, identifying characteristics of medical students who are likely to benefit from research training programs is important. This study assessed if specific learning styles of medical students, participating in federally funded short-term research training programs, were associated with research self-efficacy, a potential predictor of research career success.

Method

Seventy-five first-year medical students from 28 medical schools, selected to participate in two competitive NIH-supported summer programs for research training in aging, completed rating scales to evaluate learning styles at baseline, and research self-efficacy before and after training. We examined associations of individual learning styles (visual-verbal, sequential-global, sensing-intuitive, and active-reflective) with students' gender, ranking of medical school, and research self-efficacy.

Results

Research self-efficacy improved significantly following the training programs. Students with a verbal learning style reported significantly greater research self-efficacy at baseline, while visual, sequential, and intuitive learners demonstrated significantly greater increases in research self-efficacy from baseline to posttraining. No significant relationships were found between learning styles and students' gender or ranking of their medical school.

Conclusions

Assessments of learning styles may provide useful information to guide future training endeavors aimed at developing the next generation of physician-scientists.

Objective

This study assessed the impact of a Leadership Fellowship, sponsored by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and APA Foundation, on the careers of psychiatry residents and examined the influence of gender and year of Fellowship completion. This 2-year program for residents offered multiple opportunities to interact with professional leaders at various levels.

Methods

A retrospective online survey of alumni of the APA Leadership Fellowship, who had completed this Fellowship between 2003 and 2019, was conducted.

Results

Out of the 93 psychiatrists who were sent the survey, 59 alumni responded (60.8% response rate). Most respondents had remained involved with organized psychiatry groups and 80% held leadership positions. Respondents reported high levels of satisfaction with the APA Fellowship experience, noting the importance of peer networking. Overall, male and female respondents were similar in their subsequent leadership positions and satisfaction with the survey. Similarly, Fellows who completed the Fellowship in 2003-2015 had responses about the experience that were largely similar to those in the 2016-2019 cohort that had not yet completed their residency.

Conclusion

A vast majority of alumni of the APA Leadership Fellowship had become leaders in their workplace or organized psychiatry groups. The leadership-focused career development programs for psychiatry trainees are important avenues to develop a diverse cohort of future leaders in psychiatry.

OBJECTIVE: Older adults are vulnerable to perceived stress and loneliness, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. We previously reported inverse relationships between loneliness/perceived stress and wisdom/resilience. There are few evidence-based tele-health interventions for older adults. We tested a new remotely-administered manualized resilience- and wisdom-focused behavioral intervention to reduce perceived stress and loneliness in older adults. METHODS: This pilot controlled clinical trial used a multiple-phase-change single-case experimental design, with three successive 6-week phases: control, intervention, and follow-up periods. The intervention included six once-a-week one-hour sessions. Participants were 20 adults >65 years, without dementia. RESULTS: All 20 participants completed every session. The study indicated feasibility and acceptability of the intervention. While the sample was too small for demonstrating efficacy, there was a reduction (small-to-medium effect size) in perceived stress and loneliness, and increase in resilience, happiness, and components of wisdom and positive perceptions of aging. CONCLUSION: These preliminary data support feasibility, acceptability, and possible efficacy of a remotely-administered resilience- and wisdom-focused intervention in older adults to reduce stress and loneliness.