title: A study into the psychosocial determinants of perceived forgetfulness: implications for future interventions.
abstract: Many healthy individuals perceive themselves as forgetful and are interested in interventions to decrease their worries and increase their memory functioning. Educational interventions can be more effective when determinants are targeted that are known to predict perceived forgetfulness. In the present study, first, a broad range of determinants was selected from the literature and from experiences in clinical settings and, second, the most important determinants among the selected ones were identified with multivariate regression analyses. The study had a cross-sectional design. A sample of 300 healthy participants aged over 54 years filled in a self-report questionnaire. Findings indicated that low memory self-efficacy, high memory-related anxiety, negative attitude and high subjective norm (e.g. anticipating negative evaluations by important others) were the most important correlates of perceived forgetfulness. It is argued that future interventions should focus on the specified determinants to improve programme effectiveness in reducing subjective memory complaints.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, European Graduate School of Neuroscience (Euron), Maastricht University, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Martine E M
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Mol
authors.forename: Robert A C
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Ruiter
authors.forename: Frans R J
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Verhey
authors.forename: Jeanette
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dijkstra
authors.forename: Jelle
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jolles
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011584:Psychology; D011600:Psychopharmacology / Q000639:trends*; D020377:Self Efficacy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires