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Updated: Jul 6, 2025

Highlighting and Reducing the Impact of Negative Aging Stereotypes During Older Adults' Cognitive Testing
Published on: January 24, 2020
Relations between discrimination, rejection sensitivity, negative affect, and decrements in problem-solving ability
Roberto López1, Christianne Esposito-Smythers1, Annamarie B Defayette2
1George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA.
Introduction:
While negative affect and problem-solving deficits have been consistently linked to suicidal thoughts and behaviors, the latter are often conceptualized and studied as time- and/or context-invariant. Though requiring additional empirical support, theory suggests that discrimination may strengthen the relation between rejection sensitivity and increases in negative affect as well as declines in problem-solving abilities following rejection. The aim of the current study was to test this claim using a social rejection paradigm (i.e., Cyberball) with young adults experiencing past-month suicidal ideation.
Methods:
The sample consisted of 50 participants. Lifetime discrimination and rejection sensitivity were assessed prior to Cyberball. Negative affect and problem-solving abilities were assessed pre- and post-Cyberball. SPSS and the PROCESS macro were used to test relations among variables of interest.
Results:
Rejection sensitivity predicted greater problem-solving decrements, but not negative affect, following rejection among individuals who had experienced higher (vs. lower) levels of lifetime discrimination.
Conclusion:
Addressing rejection sensitivity and sources of discrimination within the context of treatment may reduce the impact of social rejection on problem-solving abilities among young adults at risk for suicide.
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