Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 14, 2025

Conscious and Non-conscious Representations of Emotional Faces in Asperger's Syndrome
Published on: July 31, 2016
Differential Association of Aggression With Sadness for People With Moderate and Severe Dementia
Hannah M O'Rourke1, Kimberly D Fraser1, Wendy Duggleby2
1Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Abstract:
Little is known about how individual behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) impact the person with dementia. This cross-sectional, retrospective study examined the association between one BPSD, aggressive behavior, and a patient-identified outcome, sadness, among people with moderate and severe dementia (n = 5001) using clinical administrative Resident Assessment Instrument 2.0 data. For people with moderate or severe cognitive impairment, the odds of sadness were significantly higher if verbal aggression was exhibited 4 to 6 (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 2.85, P < .001) or 1 to 3 (aOR = 2.28, P < .001) times per week, or daily (aOR = 1.77, P = .003). People with severe cognitive impairment and who displayed physical aggression either daily (OR = 2.16, P = .002) or 1 to 3 times per week (OR = 1.45, P = .023) also had an increased odds of sadness. Aggression may harm the person with dementia's mental well-being, depending on the level of cognitive impairment, and type and frequency of aggression. Prospective studies can build on these correlational findings.
Related Concept Videos
Aggression
Dementia
The progression of dementia is generally gradual....
Depressive Disorders: MDD and Dysthymia
Socioemotional Development during Infancy
Primary Temperament Types
Relationship Formation
Negative and Cognitive Symptoms of Schizophrenia
Negative Symptoms
Negative symptoms of schizophrenia manifest as deficits in normal emotional and behavioral functioning, profoundly impacting daily life. Individuals with schizophrenia often display a flat affect, characterized by a near-total absence of emotional expression,...

