Claire Growney

All Publications

• SOCIAL RESOURCES PREDICT EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING IN COGNITIVELY IMPAIRED OLDER ADULTS: RESULTS FROM THE ARMADA STUDY Johnson, M., Growney, C., Salmon, D. OXFORD UNIV PRESS. 2024: 147

  View details for DOI 10.1093/geroni/igae098.0474

  View details for Web of Science ID 001387934600001

• Interrelationships among age, time horizons, and uncertainty: emotional experiences and workplace learning WORK AGING AND RETIREMENT Growney, C. M., Chu, L., Carstensen, L. L. 2024

  View details for DOI 10.1093/workar/waae020

  View details for Web of Science ID 001379482800001

• What's time got to do with it? Appreciation of time influences social goals and emotional well-being. Psychology and aging Carstensen, L. L., Chu, L., Matteson, T. J., Growney, C. M. 2024; 39 (8): 833-853

  Abstract

  Socioemotional selectivity theory (SST) maintains that perceived constraints on time horizons motivate people to optimize emotionally meaningful experiences in the present, whereas expansive time horizons lead people to pursue goals that hold future utility. Theoretically, the prioritizing of goals about emotional meaning contributes to the relatively high levels of emotional well-being and mental health observed in older people. The present article provides an overview of SST and places it in historical context, noting the differences and similarities it shares with contemporaneous approaches. We briefly review support for core theoretical postulates and consider a recent set of empirical findings that speak against the role of perceived time on emotional well-being. We argue that existing survey measures of time horizons do not capture the increasing value and appreciation of remaining time posited in SST and describe the development of and evidence for a new Appreciation of Remaining Time scale. We conclude with a discussion about the need for theoretical precision in research and, more broadly, the need to consider explanations for age differences that extend beyond compensation for loss to fully understand socioemotional development in adulthood. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

  View details for DOI 10.1037/pag0000856

  View details for PubMedID 39666485

• Intrinsic interpersonal emotion regulation strategy use and effectiveness across adulthood: The role of interaction partner age. Emotion (Washington, D.C.) Springstein, T., Growney, C. M., Strube, M. J., English, T. 2024

  Abstract

  One way older adults may be able to maintain emotional well-being despite declining in cognitive ability is through leveraging social resources for intrinsic interpersonal emotion regulation. Additionally, given their increased life experience, older adults might also be particularly well-suited to regulate the emotions of others. To examine age difference in use and effectiveness of intrinsic interpersonal emotion regulation, community adults (N = 290, aged 25-85 years) were prompted 6×/day for 10 days to report their emotional experience, use of intrinsic emotion regulation strategies (including capitalization, social sharing, co-reappraisal, and reminiscing), and interaction partner age. Older age was associated with being less likely to engage in social sharing of negative emotions, and this effect was stable when controlling for negative emotion experience. Otherwise, there were no age differences in how often or how effectively people use intrinsic interpersonal emotion regulation. In terms of interaction partner age, older partner age was only associated with greater likelihood of using co-reappraisal and higher reports of negative emotion after social sharing. In summary, there was no strong evidence for the idea that interpersonal emotion regulation becomes more (or less) common or effective with age. However, though people may be less likely to share negative emotions and be seen as less effective partners for sharing these emotions later in life, older adults are preferable social partners for co-reappraisal potentially due to their life experience. Future work should explore motivational (i.e., attitudes toward negative emotions) and cultural (i.e., perceptions of roles and emotional abilities) mechanisms. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

  View details for DOI 10.1037/emo0001435

  View details for PubMedID 39347740

• Momentary savoring in daily life in an adult life-span sample. Emotion (Washington, D.C.) Growney, C. M., Carstensen, L. L., English, T. 2024

  Abstract

  Savoring moments can foster well-being. Older adults are theorized to prioritize emotional well-being in daily life, which directs their attention to positive aspects of life. In this study, with data collected from 2018 to 2021, 285 adults aged 25-85 completed an experience sampling procedure (six times a day for 10 days) where they reported their experienced emotions, whether they were savoring the moment, and how close they felt to their most recent social partner. They also completed a trait-level questionnaire on psychological well-being. Across the age range, individuals were more likely to savor moments when they were with close social partners. Older people were more likely than younger people to report savoring when experiencing high levels of positive affect. The tendency to savor was also tied to psychological well-being among individuals independent of their age. Findings highlight the relational aspect of savoring in daily contexts and suggest that savoring may contribute to well-being, helping to account for age advantages in well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

  View details for DOI 10.1037/emo0001423

  View details for PubMedID 39325398

• Links Between Daily Life and Laboratory Emotion Regulation Processes: The Role of Age and Cognitive Status. The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences Growney, C. M., English, T. 2024

  Abstract

  This study investigates how daily use of emotion regulation (ER) strategies predicts ER processes in the laboratory among young adults and cognitively diverse older adults.Young adults (aged 21-34, n=66), cognitively normal older adults (CN; aged 70-83, n=87), and older adults with researcher-defined mild cognitive impairment (MCI; aged 70-84; n=58) completed an experience sampling procedure (7x/day for 9 days) reporting their distraction and reappraisal use in daily life. In a laboratory task inducing high-arousal negative emotion, they reported their (a) distraction and reappraisal use when instructed to reduce negative emotion and (b) ER success and perceptions when randomly assigned to regulate using distraction or reappraisal.Among CN older adults, higher frequency of using a strategy in daily life predicted greater success deploying the strategy when instructed to do so but was unrelated to spontaneous strategy use in the laboratory. In contrast, among older adults with researcher-defined MCI, greater daily life strategy use predicted greater laboratory use, but not greater success. Daily strategy use in younger adults was unrelated to strategy use and success in the laboratory. Older adults with researcher-defined MCI experienced ER as more demanding but did not differ from non-impaired individuals in terms of perceived ER effort.Cognitively normal older adults may be better able to leverage their ER experience in novel contexts than younger adults. Older adults with MCI may be motivated to manage their emotions but experience more ER difficulty, perhaps in part due to reliance on default strategies.

  View details for DOI 10.1093/geronb/gbae073

  View details for PubMedID 38679961

• EMOTION REGULATION SUCCESS IN A LABORATORY TASK IN YOUNG ADULTS AND COGNITIVELY DIVERSE OLDER ADULTS Growney, C., English, T. OXFORD UNIV PRESS. 2023: 33

  View details for Web of Science ID 001178258400106

• THINKING ABOUT TIME INFLUENCES EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE DIFFERENTLY IN OLDER AND YOUNGER ADULTS Chen, E., Growney, C., Carstensen, L. OXFORD UNIV PRESS. 2023: 559-560

  View details for Web of Science ID 001178258402520

• AGE DIFFERENCES IN EMOTION-RELATED OUTCOMES OF COGNITIVE ENGAGEMENT AND MEANINGFULNESS AT WORK Johnson, M., Growney, C., Chu, L., Carstensen, L. OXFORD UNIV PRESS. 2023: 971

  View details for Web of Science ID 001178258404545

• WORKPLACE EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCES, TIME SAVORING, AND HELPING BEHAVIORS IN AN AGEDIVERSE SAMPLE OF ADULTS Growney, C., Chu, L., Carstensen, L. OXFORD UNIV PRESS. 2023: 554

  View details for Web of Science ID 001178258402503

• Perceived responses, capitalization, and daily gratitude: Do age and closeness matter? Emotion (Washington, D.C.) Gray, A. M., Growney, C. M., English, T. 2023

  Abstract

  Successful capitalization and feelings of gratitude are both dependent upon perceived responsiveness of a social partner, but they are understudied in combination and have yet to be studied jointly in a daily context. Taking a new approach to studying capitalization, the current study examines the effect of daily capitalization on momentary gratitude and investigates the role of the capitalizer's typical perceived responses to capitalization attempts (PRCA) on daily gratitude and future capitalization attempts. Age and social closeness are studied as amplifiers, as older adults prioritize positive emotional experiences and it is more common to capitalize with closer others for whom the capitalizer's good news is salient and who are thus motivated to provide support to the capitalizer. Participants (N = 290) aged 25-85 years completed a trait-level survey followed by ecological momentary assessment surveys (six per day) for 10 days. Results demonstrate that people experienced higher daily gratitude when capitalizing, especially when interacting with a social partner rated as high in closeness. Those who had higher trait active-constructive PRCA also experienced higher daily gratitude, with this effect strengthened among older adults. Perceived responses were also associated with more attempts to capitalize in daily life. This work suggests engaging in capitalization and perceiving regular enthusiastic and supportive responses to one's capitalization attempts have daily emotional and behavioral benefits. Notably, regular enthusiastic responses to capitalization attempts may be a motivator for future attempts across adulthood, but it may be particularly likely to foster feelings of gratitude in old age. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

  View details for DOI 10.1037/emo0001301

  View details for PubMedID 37843513