The Association between Age and Experienced Emotions in Hoarding Disorder.
Objectives: Hoarding disorder (HD) is conceptualized as a fear-based disorder and exposure to sorting/discarding possessions is a core part of treatment. However, there has been no investigation of age-related differences in emotional reaction to sorting. The objective of this study was to explore t...
| Publicado en: | Clinical Gerontologist Vol. 44; no. 5; pp. 562 - 567 |
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| Autores principales: | , , , , , |
| Formato: | research tables/charts Journal Article |
| Publicado: |
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Oct-Dec2021
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| Sumario: | Objectives: Hoarding disorder (HD) is conceptualized as a fear-based disorder and exposure to sorting/discarding possessions is a core part of treatment. However, there has been no investigation of age-related differences in emotional reaction to sorting. The objective of this study was to explore the association between age and affective response during a sorting task. Methods: Forty-nine adults with HD completed a standardized sorting task. Participants reported their current emotion before and after the sorting task and reported their subjective distress throughout the task. Results: Older participants reported significantly lower distress ratings. Only 43% of participants reported fear prior to the task and 22% reported fear after the task. The probability of reporting fear before and after the task decreased significantly with age. Conclusions: Fear may not be the emotion experienced when discarding items, particularly for older adults with HD. Future work should focus on mechanisms of action in HD treatment. Clinical Implications: Clinicians should not assume fear or anxiety to be the primary emotional response in older adults with HD when engaged in an exposure to sorting/discarding. Older hoarding patients with a more fear-oriented aversion to sorting possessions may require a treatment emphasis on increasing the percentage of items discarded. |
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