Upbeat Outlook Offsets Effects of Aging
[13 September 2004 - Atlanta Journal-Constitution] Positive thoughts can help older people maintain their physical and functional health, while negative emotions can cause a rapid decline, say two studies in the September issue of Psychology and Aging. In the first study, University of Texas researchers tracked 1,558 older Mexican-Americans in five southwestern states for seven years. They found those with positive emotions were much less likely to become frail over that time. Positive emotions may have a direct impact on health by influencing chemical and neural responses involved in maintaining homeostatic balance, the researchers suggest. Or positive emotions may indirectly affect health by increasing a person's physical, intellectual, psychological and social resources. In the second study, North Carolina State University researchers found negative stereotypes about aging resulted in a decline of older adults' memory performance. The study concluded that if older adults were treated like competent, productive people, then it's more likely that's how they would perform.