Empathic Accuracy: Helpful to Avoid Negative Affect in Old Age?

Abstract Past work suggests age-related declines in empathic accuracy and that these declines may put older people at risk for heightened stress reactivity and low affective well-being. We addressed these questions using data from the fourth wave of the Interdisciplinary Longitudinal Study of Aging (ILSE). To assess empathic accuracy, the young-old (N=115, Mage=63.4, SDage=1.13) and old-old (N=31, Mage=82.3, SDage=.87) participants of ILSE watched six film clips of individuals, who thought-aloud about an emotional autobiographical event, and were asked to rate each individual’s emotions. Subsequently, participants watched a film about Alzheimer’s disease and their subjective and cardiovascular stress reactions were assessed. Empathic accuracy was lower in old-old, as compared with young-old, individuals. Furthermore, empathic accuracy was only associated with low levels of stress reactivity among young-old but not old-old individuals. This suggests that empathic accuracy is not only compromised in very old age, but also appears to be of lower adaptive utility.

Sadness is often thought of as unpleasant and dysfunctional. Yet, evolutionary-functionalist approaches and discrete emotional aging frameworks suggest that sadness is an emotion that helps us deal with loss and thus may become particularly salient and adaptive in late life. This talk presents findings from a multi-study, multi-method research program using age-diverse samples and experimental and longitudinal study designs. Findings show (1) intact or elevated levels of sadness responding in late life (i.e., higher sadness expressions in response to distressing film clips; higher coherence between sad facial expressions and autonomic physiology in response to film clips depicting loss; stability in sadness behaviors in marital conflict interactions). Moreover, (2) higher levels of sadness responding are linked to adaptive outcomes in late life (i.e., higher social connectedness, higher compensatory control strategies) with some effects generalizing across age groups (i.e., links between sadness coherence and well-being). Implications for future research are discussed.

LONELINESS AND SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT: THE UNIQUE ROLES OF STATE AND TRAIT LONELINESS FOR DAILY PROSOCIAL BEHAVIORS
Yeeun Lee, 1 Jennifer Lay, 2 Atiya Mahmood, 3 Peter Graf, 1 and Christiane Hoppmann, 1 , 1. University of British Columbia,Vancouver,British Columbia,Canada,2. Chinese University of Hong Kong,Hong Kong,China,3. Simon Fraser University,Vancouver,British Columbia,Canada Loneliness is a distressing yet adaptive emotional experience that alerts us to socially re-engage. However, loneliness can also lead to social withdrawal and isolation. To reconcile the seemingly contradictory consequences of loneliness, we unpack the timing of the underlying processes by distinguishing between the roles of state loneliness (i.e., daily variations in loneliness) and trait loneliness (i.e., personaverage loneliness) in predicting social re-engagement. Using ten days of electronic daily assessments from 95 older adults (M age = 67.0 years; 64.2% women), initial findings indicate that trait loneliness moderates time-varying associations between state loneliness and prosocial behavior: On days of elevated state loneliness, older adults low in trait loneliness report increases in prosocial behavior, whereas older adults high in trait loneliness show decreases in prosocial behavior. Findings suggest that transient loneliness may motivate older adults to actively re-engage with others; chronic loneliness may undermine such adaptive responses. Research examining the age-related trajectories and consequences of emotional complexity has largely lumped emotions into broad categories. The present study utilized network analyses to quantify the co-occurrence of discrete emotions and their associations with well-being across the lifespan in a sample of 156 females (aged 23-79). Participants completed assessments of 8 emotions (i.e., sad, angry, anxious, lonely, happy, excited, proud, and calm) for 16 days, and completed measures of psychological and physical well-being at a 4-month follow-up. While certain emotions were found to co-occur at similar rates across the lifespan (e.g. sadanxious), other emotion pairs become more (e.g. sad-calm) or less (e.g. sad-angry) frequent with age. Additionally, specific emotion pairs were differentially associated with indicators of well-being across the lifespan, while controlling for mean levels of these emotions. These findings point to the importance of considering the co-occurrence of distinct emotions and potential pathways towards successful aging.

DISCRETE EMOTION NETWORKS ACROSS THE LIFESPAN: IMPLICATIONS FOR WELL-BEING
were assessed. Empathic accuracy was lower in old-old, as compared with young-old, individuals. Furthermore, empathic accuracy was only associated with low levels of stress reactivity among young-old but not old-old individuals. This suggests that empathic accuracy is not only compromised in very old age, but also appears to be of lower adaptive utility.

THE CRITICAL HELP-SEEKING ROLE OF FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND NEIGHBORS IN THE LIVES OF ELDER ABUSE VICTIMS Chair: Marlene Stum Discussant: David Burnes
Elder abuse prevention and intervention is a complex puzzle. We focus on examining the typically invisible role, experience, and impact of nonabusing family, friends, and neighbors, or "concerned persons" in stopping elder abuse. Given the reality that most elder abuse goes unreported and unaddressed, it seems essential to understand if and how concerned persons can play a role in help-seeking for older victims, and to also understand the needs and issues faced by concerned persons as a consequence. First. Breckman presents evidence of the significant distress concerned person's experience from knowing about elder abuse and trying to assist victims, and shares experience developing and implementing the first Elder Abuse Helpline for Concerned Persons in the U.S. Second, Fraga Dominguez et.al. present an important international perspective highlighting findings about concerned persons as users of a UK elder abuse helpline, their profile, the impact of helping, and variables relating to help-seeking. Third, Stum shares findings from a qualitative study of elder family financial exploitation related to what concerned family members were trying to accomplish by getting involved (motivating goals) and the resulting continuum of outcomes. Fourth, Kilaberia also explores the help-seeking experiences of concerned family members in elder family financial exploitation situations, specifically the range of tasks involved, and the impacts on the concerned family member's individual health and well-The discussion led by Burnes will focus on understanding contributions of the research presented given the current state of the field, and offer suggestions for future research and intervention directions.

WHEN CONCERNED FAMILY MEMBERS INTERVENE IN ELDER FAMILY FINANCIAL EXPLOITATION: GOALS AND OUTCOMES Marlene Stum, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States
The role and experience of non-abusing concerned family members (CFMs) in elder family financial exploitation (EFFE) is largely unexplored. This paper examines the experience of "trying to do the right thing," focusing on what CFM's were trying to accomplish (motivating goals), and resulting outcomes utilizing data from a qualitative study of 28 CFMs (primarily female adult children of an older victim, and siblings of primary perpetrator). Five common goals appear to be motivating CFM involvement, driven by a priority to ensuring the victim's quality of life, as well as the desire to honor and respect the victim's wishes, protect the victim's financial well-being, preserve family relationships, and deal with the perpetrator(s). CFM help-seeking resulted in a wide range of outcomes, from making a difference by connecting victims to supportive services and interrupting the financial exploitation, to mixed results, and in other cases frustration with no desirable outcomes.

WHEN HELPING HURTS: NONABUSING FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND NEIGHBORS IN THE LIVES OF ELDER MISTREATMENT VICTIMS
Risa Breckman, 1 David Burnes, 2 Sarah Ross, 3 Philip Marshall, 4 J. Jill Suitor, 5 Mark Lachs, 6 and Karl Pillemer, 3 1. Weill Cornell Medicine/ NYC Elder Abuse Center,New York,New York,United States,2. University of Toronto,Toronto,Ontario,Canada,3. Cornell University,Ithaca,New York,United States,4. Historic Preservation Program,Roger Williams University,Bristol,Rhode Island,United States,5. Purdue University,West Lafayette,Indiana,United States,6. Weill Cornell Medicine,New York City,New York,United States Research conducted by the NYC Elder Abuse Center (NYCEAC) at Weill Cornell Medicine and colleagues found that concerned persons experience significant distress knowing about elder abuse and trying to assist victims. Data will be presented from a nationally representative survey which included items on concerned persons in elder abuse. Thirty-one percent of all respondents reported that they had a relative or friend who experienced elder abuse; of these, 61% had attempted to help the victim and over 80% reported the experience is very or extremely stressful (2017). By both knowing about and becoming involved in elder abuse situations, concerned persons experience significant emotional and practical problems and often need professional help. NYCEAC's Elder Abuse Helpline for Concerned Persons is the first of its kind in the country. The Helpline's services and structure will be explained, and possibilities for replication in other locations will be explored. Despite their potential role in elder abuse cases, knowledge about concerned persons outside of North America is scarce. This paper will discuss findings from a study focusing on concerned persons in the UK, by addressing their profile, the impact of helping, and several variables relating to helpseeking. Researchers used secondary data from a charity's helpline, encompassing a year of recorded cases (N = 1623). Concerned persons (n = 1352) were often related to the victim (80%) and/or perpetrator (59%). In 43% of cases, they reported impact as a result of their awareness of the situation or supporting the victim. This impact was thematically analysed and ranged widely in terms of severity, from slight worry to being subjected to the perpetrator's homicide threats, and it often affected the person's mental health or financial situation. Concerned persons reported substantial