TY - JOUR
T1 - Can Creativity and Cognitive Reserve Predict Psychological Well-Being in Older Adults? The Role of Divergent Thinking in Healthy Aging
AU - Fusi, Giulia
AU - Giannì, Jessica
AU - Borsa, Virginia Maria
AU - Colautti, Laura
AU - Crepaldi, Maura
AU - Palmiero, Massimiliano
AU - Garau, Francesca
AU - Bonfiglio, Salvatore Natale
AU - Cao, Ylenia
AU - Antonietti, Alessandro
AU - Penna, Maria Pietronilla
AU - Rozzini, Luca
AU - Rusconi, Maria Luisa
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - The maintenance of psychological well-being (PWB) in the older adult population is a pivotal goal for our rapidly aging society. PWB is a multicomponent construct that can be influenced by several factors in the lifespan. The beneficial role of divergent thinking (DT) and cognitive reserve
(CR) in sustaining older subjects’ PWB has been scarcely investigated so far. The present study aims to investigate the relationships between DT, CR, and PWB in a sample of 121 healthy older adults (61 females; M age: 73.39 ± 6.66 years; M education: 11.33 ± 4.81 years). The results highlight that better DT performance predicts higher CR, which mediates an indirect positive effect of DT on emotional competence, one of the PWB factors. It follows that DT and CR can be considered protective factors in aging, and their effects go beyond cognitive functioning, revealing a positive effect even on some PWB components. The practical implications regarding targeted health interventions for prevention in the older adult population to support well-being and promote healthy aging
are discussed.
AB - The maintenance of psychological well-being (PWB) in the older adult population is a pivotal goal for our rapidly aging society. PWB is a multicomponent construct that can be influenced by several factors in the lifespan. The beneficial role of divergent thinking (DT) and cognitive reserve
(CR) in sustaining older subjects’ PWB has been scarcely investigated so far. The present study aims to investigate the relationships between DT, CR, and PWB in a sample of 121 healthy older adults (61 females; M age: 73.39 ± 6.66 years; M education: 11.33 ± 4.81 years). The results highlight that better DT performance predicts higher CR, which mediates an indirect positive effect of DT on emotional competence, one of the PWB factors. It follows that DT and CR can be considered protective factors in aging, and their effects go beyond cognitive functioning, revealing a positive effect even on some PWB components. The practical implications regarding targeted health interventions for prevention in the older adult population to support well-being and promote healthy aging
are discussed.
KW - aging
KW - cognitive reserve
KW - divergent thinking
KW - emotional competence
KW - health
KW - well-being
KW - aging
KW - cognitive reserve
KW - divergent thinking
KW - emotional competence
KW - health
KW - well-being
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10807/261037
U2 - 10.3390/healthcare12030303
DO - 10.3390/healthcare12030303
M3 - Article
SN - 2227-9032
VL - 12
SP - 1
EP - 18
JO - HEALTHCARE
JF - HEALTHCARE
ER -