internalized stress: Bottled-up stress is causing you more damage than you think – A new study suggests silent stress could be quietly stealing older adults’ memories
The research focused on older Chinese Americans, a group often underrepresented in studies of brain health and cognitive aging. The findings suggest that emotional tension lurking beneath the surface can have lasting effects on memory, Science Daily reports.
Why is internalized stress important?
The study, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease Prevention, examined factors that may influence cognitive decline among older Chinese Americans. Researchers from the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Policy and Aging Research focused on how emotional and social experiences affect memory as people age.
Understanding these risks becomes increasingly important as the population of older Asian Americans continues to grow, according to lead author Michelle Chen.
“As the number of older Asian Americans increases significantly, it is vital to better understand the risk factors for memory loss in this understudied population,” Chen said.
Cultural expectations can sometimes make emotional struggles less visible, the researchers noted. They called attention to the model minority stereotype that often portrays Asian Americans as highly successful and resilient, potentially masking underlying stress and emotional difficulties, according to a report by Science Daily.
What did the researchers discover?
To investigate the issue, the team analyzed information from the Chinese Population Survey of Elderly (PINE), the largest population-based study of older Chinese Americans. The study included more than 1,500 participants living in the Chicago area and examined interviews conducted between 2011 and 2017, Science Daily reports.
The study looked at three main factors: internalized stress, community cohesion, and alleviation of external stress. Among these, internalized stress emerged as the strongest predictor of memory loss. Researchers have defined this as the tendency to absorb stressful experiences along with feelings of hopelessness, rather than expressing or addressing these feelings.
Across three waves of data collection, participants experiencing higher levels of internalized stress showed greater memory deterioration over time.
In contrast, neighborhood cohesion and reduction of external stress showed no significant link with changes in memory.
How might these findings help older adults?
The findings suggest that emotional well-being may play a larger role in cognitive health than previously understood.
“Stress and despair may go unnoticed in aging societies, but they play a critical role in brain aging,” said Chen, who is also an assistant professor of neurology at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. “Because these emotions are modifiable, the goal of this research is to inform culturally sensitive stress reduction interventions to alleviate these emotions in older adults.”
Researchers believe the results could guide future strategies aimed at reducing emotional tension and promoting healthy brain aging, according to a report by Science Daily.
The study was supported by the Rutgers-NYU Resource Center for Alzheimer’s and Dementia Research in Asian and Pacific Americans. Co-authors included Yiming Ma, Charu Verma, Stephanie Bergren and William Hu from Rutgers Health Institute. The findings add new insight into how latent emotional stress may silently shape memory health later in life.
FAQ
What type of stress was linked to memory loss?
Stress that is internalized rather than expressed.
Who was included in the study?
Chinese American adults ages 60 and older.
