Memory Compensation in Older Adults: The Role of Health, Emotion Regulation, and Trait Mindfulness
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The current study examined associations between everyday memory compensation and 3 person-level resource domains (i.e., health, emotion regulation, and trait mindfulness) in older adults. METHOD: In this cross-sectional study, 89 healthy, community-dwelling older adults (ages 51-85 years) completed the multidimensional Memory Compensation Questionnaire, along with measures of self-reported health status, emotion regulation strategies, and trait mindfulness. RESULTS: Hierarchical regressions (covarying for age, gender, and education) showed that poorer mental health (especially for older adults) and physical health functioning were related to using compensatory strategies (e.g., reliance on others and investment of time and effort) more frequently. Cognitive reappraisers reported using more internal mnemonic strategies. Conversely, having a more mindful predisposition was associated with less frequent use of compensatory strategies, especially for middle-aged adults. DISCUSSION: The results suggest that health-related quality of life, adaptive strategies to regulate emotions, and trait mindfulness are additional contexts that determine the degree of engagement in everyday memory compensation and ultimately to successful aging.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
One possible mechanism through which dispositional mindfulness buffers stress is by improving emotional regulation.
“It appears that one of the possible mechanisms through which DM does this is by improving emotional regulation (Coffey and Hartman 2008; de Frias 2014; Feldman et al. 2016; Kadziolka et al. 2016; McDonald et al. 2016; Prakash et al. 2015).”
From Dispositional Mindfulness and Psychological Health: a Systematic Review (2018) · cites this paper as de Frias 2014
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Folstein, M. F., Folstein, S. E., & McHugh, P. R. (1975) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/0022-3956(75)90026-6 · Cited by 88,282 · see citing works
The PHQ-9: Validity of a brief depression severity measure
Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R. L., & Williams, J. B. W. (2001) · Journal of General Internal Medicine · doi:10.1046/j.1525-1497.2001.016009606.x · Cited by 44,910 · see citing works
The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being
Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2003) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.84.4.822 · Cited by 13,448 · see citing works
Gross, J. J., & John, O. P. (2003) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.85.2.348 · Cited by 11,929 · see citing works
SF-36 health survey: Manual and interpretation guide
Ware, J. (2003) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 11,424 · see citing works
Mindfulness-based interventions in context: Past, present, and future
Kabat-Zinn, J. (2003) · Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice · doi:10.1093/clipsy.bpg016 · Cited by 8,615 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Interest and the investigation of mindfulness in the psychological literature is growing (e.g., Brown, Ryan, Loverich, Biegel, & West, 2011; Kabat-Zinn, 2003), and the opportunity exists to understand its conceptual space and functional benefits in relation to psychological outcomes.”
BackgroundMindfulness-based interventions in context: Past, present, and future.
Kabat-Zinn, J. (2003) · Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice · doi:10.1093/clipsy/bpg016 · Cited by 8,612 · see citing works
Emotion regulation: affective, cognitive, and social consequences.
Gross, J. J. (2002) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1017/s0048577201393198 · Cited by 4,890 · cited 1× · see citing works
“, by reframing emotionally stressful situations), which places demands on memory resources and elicits rumination to reinterpret stressful experiences (Gross, 2002; Ray et al., 2005).”
BackgroundGross, J. J. (1998) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037//0022-3514.74.1.224 · Cited by 4,671 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Emotion regulation refers to processes that individuals use to modulate which emotions they experience, the timing of said emotions, and how these emotions are expressed (Gross, 1998).”
BackgroundClinical Psychology: Science and Practice
(2021) · Clinical Psychology Science and Practice · doi:10.1111/(issn)1468-2850 · Cited by 3,683 · see citing works
Prevention of relapse/recurrence in major depression by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy.
Teasdale, J. D., Segal, Z. V., Williams, J. M. G., Ridgeway, V. A., Soulsby, J. M., & Lau, M. A. (2000) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-006x.68.4.615 · Cited by 3,236 · see citing works
(2005) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 3,197 · see citing works
John, O. P., & Gross, J. J. (2004) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2004.00298.x · Cited by 2,381 · see citing works
Long-term Effects of Cognitive Training on Everyday Functional Outcomes in Older Adults
Willis, S. L., Tennstedt, S. L., Marsiske, M., Ball, K., Elias, J., Koepke, K. M., Morris, J. N., Rebok, G. W., Unverzagt, F. W., Stoddard, A. M., et al. (2006) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.296.23.2805 · Cited by 1,496 · see citing works
Chiesa, A., Calati, R., & Serretti, A. (2011) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2010.11.003 · Cited by 1,295 · see citing works
The course of adult intellectual development.
Schaie, K. W. (1994) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037//0003-066x.49.4.304 · Cited by 799 · see citing works
The course of adult intellectual development
Schaie, K. W. (1994) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.49.4.304 · Cited by 799 · see citing works
Emotion Regulation in Older Age
Urry, H. L., & Gross, J. J. (2010) · Current Directions in Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/0963721410388395 · Cited by 724 · see citing works
Emotional Aging: Recent Findings and Future Trends
Scheibe, S., & Carstensen, L. L. (2010) · The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences · doi:10.1093/geronb/gbp132 · Cited by 688 · see citing works
Psychological compensation: A theoretical framework.
Bäckman, L., & Dixon, R. A. (1992) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.112.2.259 · Cited by 400 · see citing works
The Mindful Brain and Emotion Regulation in Mood Disorders
Farb, N. A. S., Anderson, A. K., & Segal, Z. V. (2012) · The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/070674371205700203 · Cited by 366 · see citing works
Can Meditation Slow Rate of Cellular Aging? Cognitive Stress, Mindfulness, and Telomeres
Epel, E., Daubenmier, J., Moskowitz, J. T., Folkman, S., & Blackburn, E. (2009) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04414.x · Cited by 324 · see citing works
Individual differences in trait rumination and the neural systems supporting cognitive reappraisal
RAY, R. D., OCHSNER, K. N., COOPER, J. C., ROBERTSON, E. R., GABRIELI, J. D. E., & GROSS, J. J. (2005) · Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3758/cabn.5.2.156 · Cited by 316 · see citing works
The Relevance of Control Beliefs for Health and Aging
Lachman, M. E., Neupert, S. D., & Agrigoroaei, S. (2010) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-380882-0.00011-5 · Cited by 291 · see citing works
Handbook of Cognitive Aging: Interdisciplinary Perspectives
Hofer, S. M., & Alwin, D. F. (2008) · Sage eBooks · doi:10.4135/9781412976589 · Cited by 247 · see citing works
Charles, S. T., & Carstensen, L. L. (2007) · Cited by 230 · see citing works
Hultsch, D. F. (1998) · Cited by 227 · see citing works
Histories of Social Engagement and Adult Cognition: Midlife in the U.S. Study
Seeman, T. E., Miller‐Martinez, D., Merkin, S. S., Lachman, M. E., Tun, P. A., & Karlamangla, A. S. (2010) · The Journals of Gerontology Series B · doi:10.1093/geronb/gbq091 · Cited by 194 · see citing works
Linking Process and Outcome in the Study of Emotion and Aging
Isaacowitz, D. M., & Blanchard–Fields, F. (2012) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691611424750 · Cited by 180 · see citing works
Revisiting the dedifferentiation hypothesis with longitudinal multi-cohort data
de Frias, C. M., Lövdén, M., Lindenberger, U., & Nilsson, L.-G. (2006) · Intelligence · doi:10.1016/j.intell.2006.07.011 · Cited by 168 · see citing works
The effect of perceived forgetfulness on quality of life in older adults; a qualitative review
Mol, M. E. M., Carpay, M., Ramakers, I. H. G. B., Rozendaal, N., Verhey, F. R. J., & Jolles, J. (2006) · International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry · doi:10.1002/gps.1686 · Cited by 140 · see citing works
Dixon, R. A., & de Frias, C. M. (2004) · Aging Neuropsychology and Cognition · doi:10.1080/13825580490511161 · Cited by 128 · see citing works
Characteristics of Self-Reported Memory Compensation in Older Adults
Dixon, R. A., de Frias, C. M., & Bäckman, L. (2001) · Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology · doi:10.1076/jcen.23.5.650.1242 · Cited by 127 · see citing works
Opitz, P. C., Gross, J. J., & Urry, H. L. (2012) · Social and Personality Psychology Compass · doi:10.1111/j.1751-9004.2011.00413.x · Cited by 112 · see citing works
Brown, K. W., Ryan, R. M., Loverich, T. M., Biegel, G. M., & West, A. M. (2011) · Psychological Assessment · doi:10.1037/a0025781 · Cited by 109 · see citing works
Use of Memory Compensation Strategies Is Related to Psychosocial and Health Indicators
de Frias, C. M., Dixon, R. A., & Bäckman, L. (2003) · The Journals of Gerontology Series B · doi:10.1093/geronb/58.1.p12 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Confirmatory Factor Structure and Measurement Invariance of the Memory Compensation Questionnaire.
de Frias, C. M., & Dixon, R. A. (2005) · Psychological Assessment · doi:10.1037/1040-3590.17.2.168 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
Wåhlin, Å., MacDonald, S. W. S., de Frias, C. M., Nilsson, L.-G., & Dixon, R. A. (2006) · Psychology and Aging · doi:10.1037/0882-7974.21.2.318 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Everyday memory compensation: The impact of cognitive reserve, subjective memory, and stress.
Garrett, D. D., Grady, C. L., & Hasher, L. (2010) · Psychology and Aging · doi:10.1037/a0017726 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Jajodia, A., & Borders, A. (2011) · The Journals of Gerontology Series B · doi:10.1093/geronb/gbr035 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Mild memory deficits differentially affect 6-year changes in compensatory strategy use.
Dixon, R. A., & de Frias, C. M. (2007) · Psychology and Aging · doi:10.1037/0882-7974.22.3.632 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Dixon, R. A., Hopp, G. A., Cohen, A.-L., de Frias, C. M., & Bäckman, L. (2003) · Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology · doi:10.1076/jcen.25.3.382.13801 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
van Hooren, S., Valentijn, S. A. M., Bosma, H., Ponds, R., van Boxtel, M. P. J., & Jolles, J. (2005) · The Journals of Gerontology Series B · doi:10.1093/geronb/60.1.p57 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Effects of Health Status on Word Finding in Aging
Albert, M. L., Spiro, A., Sayers, K. J., Cohen, J. A., Brady, C. B., Goral, M., & Obler, L. K. (2009) · Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.2009.02559.x · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Whitehead, B. R., & Bergeman, C. S. (2013) · The Journals of Gerontology Series B · doi:10.1093/geronb/gbt019 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Principles ofcompensation in cognitive neuroscience and neurorehabilitation
Dixon, R. A., Garrett, D. D., & Bäckman, L. (2008) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781316529898.004 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Evaluating Everyday Competence in Older Adult Couples: Epidemiological Considerations
Dixon, R. A. (2010) · Gerontology · doi:10.1159/000320325 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Memory rehabilitation in older adults
Glisky, E. L., & Glisky, M. L. (2008) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781316529898.037 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Effects of depressive symptoms and routinization on metamemory during adulthood
Tournier, I., & Postal, V. (2010) · Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics · doi:10.1016/j.archger.2010.01.019 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
What do brain dysfunctional patients report following memory compensation training?
Prigatano, G. P., & Kime, S. K. (2003) · Neurorehabilitation · doi:10.3233/nre-2003-18106 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
A., D., & de Frias Cindy, M. (2009) · Acta Psychologica Sinica · doi:10.3724/sp.j.1041.2009.01091 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Barbero (2014) · doi:10.1016/j · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Small, B. J., Dixon, R. A., & McArdle, J. J. (2011). Tracking differences in cognition-health changes from 55 to 95 years of age: Findings from the Victoria Longitudinal Study. The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences , 66 , i153-i161. doi:10.1093/geronb/ gbq093 · DOI
Cited by
Sorted by citations
The structure of common emotion regulation strategies: A meta-analytic examination
Naragon-Gainey, K., McMahon, T. P., & Chacko, T. P. (2017) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/bul0000093 · Cited by 588 · see citing works
Dispositional Mindfulness and Psychological Health: a Systematic Review
Tomlinson, E. R., Yousaf, O., Vittersø, A. D., & Jones, L. (2018) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-017-0762-6 · Cited by 560 · see citing works
Geiger, P. J., Boggero, I. A., Brake, C. A., Caldera, C. A., Combs, H. L., Peters, J. R., & Baer, R. A. (2016) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-015-0444-1 · Cited by 205 · see citing works
Stress on health-related quality of life in older adults: the protective nature of mindfulness
de Frias, C. M., & Whyne, E. (2015) · Aging & Mental Health · doi:10.1080/13607863.2014.924090 · Cited by 165 · see citing works
Perez-Blasco, J., Sales, A., Meléndez, J. C., & Mayordomo, T. (2016) · Clinical Gerontologist · doi:10.1080/07317115.2015.1120253 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
“de Frias, C. M., & Whyne, E. (2015). Stress on health-related quality of life in older adults: The protective nature of mindfulness.”
BackgroundMindfulness and emotion regulation in older and young adults
Prakash, R. S., Whitmoyer, P., Aldao, A., & Schirda, B. L. (2015) · Aging & Mental Health · doi:10.1080/13607863.2015.1100158 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
Allen, T. D., Henderson, T. G., Mancini, V. S., & French, K. A. (2017) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-017-0681-6 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Caycho-Rodríguez, T., Tomás, J. M., Ventura- León, J., Carranza Esteban, R. F., Oblitas Guadalupe, L. A., Reyes-Bossio, M., García Cadena, C. H., & Cabrera-Orosco, I. (2021) · Aging & Mental Health · doi:10.1080/13607863.2020.1716685 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Frías-Luque, M. D., & Toledano-González, A. (2022) · PeerJ · doi:10.7717/peerj.12900 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Systematic Review of Correlates of Internal and External Memory Strategy Use in Older Adults
Pizzonia, K. L., & Suhr, J. A. (2022) · Journal of Applied Gerontology · doi:10.1177/07334648211065427 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Age Differences in Emotion Regulation and Facial Muscle Reactivity to Emotional Films
Labuschagne, I., Pedder, D. J., Henry, J. D., Terrett, G., & Rendell, P. G. (2019) · Gerontology · doi:10.1159/000501584 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Radnan, M., Nicholson, R., Brookman, R., & Harris, C. B. (2023) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-023-34815-3 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
The Relationship Between the Pain Experience and Emotion Regulation in Older Adults
Ghandehari, O. O., Gallant, N. L., Hadjistavropoulos, T., Williams, J. L., & Clark, D. A. (2020) · Pain Medicine · doi:10.1093/pm/pnaa135 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Simon, C., & Schmitter-Edgecombe, M. (2016) · Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology · doi:10.1080/13803395.2016.1150426 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Mindfulness Training and Quality of Life Among Pregnant Women: A Randomized Clinical Trial
Yazdanimehr, R., Omidi, A., Akbari, H., & Sadat, Z. (2016) · Nursing and Midwifery Studies · doi:10.5812/nmsjournal.32570 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
An evaluation of a brief guided mindfulness workshop with older adults: A qualitative study
Redden, J. M., Korol, S., & Vassallo, T. (2021) · Mental Health & Prevention · doi:10.1016/j.mhp.2021.200215 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Alves, M. C. A., de Almeida, M. H. M., Exner, C., Toldrá, R. C., & Batista, M. P. P. (2020) · Cadernos Brasileiros de Terapia Ocupacional · doi:10.4322/2526-8910.ctoao1865 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Terao, C. M., Pishdadian, S., Moscovitch, M., & Rosenbaum, R. S. (2024) · Aging Neuropsychology and Cognition · doi:10.1080/13825585.2024.2345408 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
McCullough, A. K., Lawless, S., & Martins-Klein, B. (2025) · Journal of Alzheimer s Disease · doi:10.1177/13872877251315054 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Fonia, D., & Aisenberg-Shafran, D. (2022) · Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings · doi:10.1007/s10880-022-09911-7 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Adaptación de personas adultas mayores frente al deterioro cognitivo leve: teoría de rango medio
Quezada, Y. V. P., & Salazar-González, B. C. (2023) · Index de Enfermería · doi:10.58807/indexenferm20236168 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Šumec, R., Filip, P., Vyhnálek, M., Katina, S., Dorjee, D., Hort, J., & Sheardová, K. (2025) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-024-02500-9 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Butts, A. M., Lunde, A. M., & Cerhan, J. H. (2015) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-981-287-080-3_190-1
Mindfulness Training and Quality of Life Among Pregnant Females: A Randomized Clinical Trial
Yazdanimehr, R., Omidi, A., Akbari, H., & Sadat, Z. (2016) · Nursing and Midwifery Studies · doi:10.17795/nmsjournal32570
The Effect of Mindfulness and Compassion Program on Older Adults as a Positive Aging Intervention
İpek, L., Özer, D., Gencer, G. Y. G., & Karaloğlu, A. M. (2026) · International Journal on Lifelong Education and Leadership · doi:10.25233/ijlel.1742336
Butts, A. M., Lunde, A. M., & Cerhan, J. H. (2017) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-981-287-082-7_190
- Authors
- de Frias, C. M.
- Venue
- The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2013-06-27
- Volume
- 69
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 678-685
- ISSN
- 1079-5014 (ISSN-L)
- 1758-5368
- OpenAlex
- W2121988358
- Cited by
- 26
- References
- 50
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 1 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 4.33
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Journals of Gerontology Series B (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Fonds pour la Formation à la Recherche dans l’Industrie et dans l’Agriculture
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Functions and Memory
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Keywords
- memory compensation, older adults, emotion regulation, trait mindfulness, self-reported health, cognitive reappraisal, mnemonic strategies, dependence on others, successful aging
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aging, Cross-Sectional Studies, Emotions, Female, Health Status, Humans, Male, Memory Disorders, Middle Aged, Quality of Life, Surveys and Questionnaires, Mindfulness
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
