Has the recession got you anxious? Emotional? Stressed? The UVA psychology department is looking for you, by which we mean Dr. Bethany Teachman, and her group of graduate students.
Supported by grants from the UVA Institute on Aging and the Max Planck Network on Aging, Teachman and her team are studying the connection between anxiety triggers and the reaction to them in younger and older adults. The goal is to find a solution in the future for older adults suffering from anxiety.
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UVA Psychology Professor Bethany Teachman and her team looks for volunteers for a study focusing on the connection between anxiety triggers and age. “We had people put their finger in front of them like a candle, and do big fast blows,” Teachman says. “This triggered physical sensations such as lightheadedness, and dryness of the throat; things associated with anxiety.” |
Several weeks ago, Teachman and a former graduate student, Dr. Tynessa Gordon, published a paper with an example of an experiment similar to ones being done now. One hundred volunteers were presented with a social stressor that was meant to bring out their hidden anxieties. The social stressor seemed easy enough. All the volunteer had to do was stand in front of a mirror and give a speech. The catch? An experimenter sat next to each volunteer, and watched him or her with a neutral expression. The expression made some volunteers nervous—which was exactly the point.
Next came a physical stressor. “We had people put their finger in front of them like a candle, and do big fast blows,” Teachman explained.
“This triggered physical sensations such as lightheadedness, and dryness of the throat; things associated with anxiety.”
What Teachman and Gordon found was that volunteers over 65 became more stressed during the “blowing-on-your-finger” exercise than the speech, whereas the volunteers ages 18 to 35 were more stressed during the speech. Maintaining physical function also became more important for the older adults than the younger ones.
Josh Magee, one of Teachman’s graduate students, says, “We’re hoping to gain insight into similarities and differences in the way thoughts and emotions relate for people of different ages. This should allow us to transport similar treatments from younger to older adults, but modify them in ways that match the unique experiences of older adults.”
Interested in becoming a volunteer for one of UVA’s many studies on social and physical anxiety? If you are between the ages of 18-35 or 65 and older, call 434-243-5555. Volunteers are paid $15.
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