The aim of this study is to analyze the effect of the type of habitation of older adults—with relatives or alone—on their health and well-being. The participants were 352 people over 65 years of age who collaborated with the research on a voluntary basis. The data indicated that those who live with family members have better social integration, well-being and happiness than those who live alone. A multiple regression analysis showed the positive effect of living with relatives on well-being and happiness. However, participation in social activities mitigates the effect of the type of cohabitation explaining better well-being and happiness in the older population. These findings support the idea of designing and implementing intervention policies focused on activities that promote social participation and social interactions to improve well-being and happiness in the older adults.

The dual theory establishes that the decision-making process relies on two different systems, the affective system and the executive function (EF), developed during adolescence. This study analyzes the relationship between the decision-making and EF processes in a group of early adolescents (mean age = 12.51 years, SD = 0.61), where more affective impulse processes are developed, and in young adults (mean age = 19.38 years, SD = 1.97), where cognitive control processes have already matured. For this purpose, 140 participants in Spain completed the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) to measure their risky decisions and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST) to measure their EF. Performance on the IGT improves over blocks; however, adolescents received lower mean scores than young adults. However, controlling for age, perseverative errors were negatively associated with the mean net score on the risky blocks of IGT; thus, those who committed more perseverative errors in the WCST were more likely to take cards from the disadvantageous decks on the last blocks of the IGT. The current study shows that adolescents and adults solve ambiguous decisions by trial and error; however, adolescents are more likely to make risky decisions without attending to the long-term consequences. Following the dual theory hypothesis, the maturation of EF with age partly accounts for this difference in risky decision-making between adolescents and adults.

Background: Housing plays an important role in the aging process and health. The house and its nearby environment host most of the daily activities of older adults. Residential satisfaction (RS) has been relegated to physical issues such as accessibility. However, RS is also constituted by older adults’ perceptions about housing. This study analyzes the perceived home that develops RS in older adults. Methods: A random sample of 714 participants aged 50 to 84 (mean = 65; SD = 0.98) were used. Participants lived in ordinary housing in southern Spain. Scales measure perceptions of RS, meaning, functionality and belief of control over the home. Results: Analyses were performed using structural equation models to evaluate the dependence relationships between the different perceptions evaluated. We observe a direct influence of internal control on usability (β = 0.84) and perceived meanings (β = 0.49). However, external control shows a negative influence on the meaning of home (β = −0.14). Perceived usability (β = 0.68) and meaning (β = 0.32) positively influence RS. Conclusion: Perceptions of meaning, functionality and RS itself depend on internal housing-related control beliefs. Active older adults with higher internal control perceived their home fit better to the need of everyday life and improve RS.

Coenzyme Q₁₀ (CoQ₁₀) is an essential factor for mitochondrial activity and antioxidant protection of cells, tissues and plasma lipoproteins. Its deficiency has been associated with aging progression in animals and humans. To determine if CoQ₁₀ levels in plasma can be associated with frailty in elderly people (aged > 65), we studied the relationship of CoQ₁₀ levels in blood with other parameters in plasma and with the physical activity and capacity in aged people. Our results indicate that high CoQ₁₀ levels are directly associated with lower cardiovascular risk measured by the quotient total cholesterol/HDL cholesterol. Furthermore, high CoQ₁₀ levels were found in people showing higher physical activity, stronger muscle capacity. CoQ₁₀ also showed a strong inverse relationship with sedentarism and the up and go test, which is considered to be a frailty index. Interestingly, we found gender differences, indicating stronger correlations in women than in men. The importance of the maintenance of CoQ₁₀ levels in elderly people to avoid sarcopenia and frailty in elderly people is discussed.

Background: The objective of this study was to analyze the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based intervention program for the promotion of well-being and health in family caregivers. Methods: The participants were 111 family women caregivers aged between 33 and 75 years old. This was a double-blinded randomized controlled trial. The mindfulness intervention program lasted 12 weeks. The experimental group underwent mindfulness and acceptance-based interventions (MABIs). The control group performed physical activity training. Results: A cross-lagged panel analysis was computed with the two waves of health, well-being, burden and resilience and age in years and intervention as predictors. The cross-lagged path model fit well χ² (8) = 7.179, p = 0.51, root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.00, comparative fit index (CFI) = 1.00, standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) = 0.05. The mindfulness intervention program was a significant predictor accounting for decreasing health problems (β = −0.292, p < 0.01) and burden (β = −0.190, p < 0.01) and increasing well-being (β = 0.107, p < 0.05) at post-test. Conclusions: Mindfulness-based intervention programs are effective in coping with the burden of family caregivers and, in turn, in promoting resilience, well-being and health among caregivers. Our findings encourage clinical uses of mindfulness interventions to promote health.

In this article we offer both a conceptual and a methodological proposal for the study of cultural identity by cultural-historical psychology. First we will develop a conceptual framework in which we define acts of identification as a suitable unit of analysis for cultural identity. Acts of identification integrate dynamically social and individual components, both of them necessary in the explanation of cultural identity. To study identity empirically we adopt a rhetorical perspective: we can study cultural identity through the analysis of the discursive processes that people use to persuade an audience and themselves. Secondly, we will present empirical research based on the conceptual ideas explained previously. In this research we will analyse the acts of identification performed by various groups of Andalusian people who differ in their literacy experience. Results of this empirical research are presented, concluding that literacy affects the way people discursively construct their cultural identity.