resilience

I participated in my first conference symposium this afternoon! The topic was late life suicide. Four students from West Virginia University and I presented research in this area. Marnin Heisel, PhD, an assistant professor at The University of Western Ontario, was the discussant and did an excellent job of integrating our research findings and linking them to previous late life suicide research.

For my GSA poster this year, we analyzed the psychometric properties of the COPE scale in older adults. The scale, developed by Carver, Scheier, and Weintraub (1989), measures dispositional coping strategies. We used the COPE in my thesis project and wanted to find out more about how the scale performs in community-dwelling older adults. We found strong evidence for internal reliability and modest evidence for validity in this population (see attachments for further information). 

I just found out today that my first manuscript in a professional journal was published this month! I wrote the article on my thesis with two of my committee members, Dan Segal and Fred Coolidge. Here's the full reference:

Marty, M. A., Segal, D. L., & Coolidge, F. L. (2010). Relationships among dispositional coping strategies, suicidal ideation, and protective factors against suicide in older adults. Aging & Mental Health, 14(8), 1015 - 1023.

Interesting slide show and interviews regading what it takes to reach age 100+: Secrets of the Centenarians

This afternoon, I presented my thesis project for the first Gerontology Center Colloquium of this fall semester. Each PhD student in our department has the opportunity to present a research project for the series. The talk generated lots of good discussion and interesting ideas for future research.

This month I successfully proposed my dissertation project to my committee (now the real work begins!). As suggested by the title, my project will investigate the way in which low feelings of belongingness and high feelings of burdensomeness interact to increase suicide ideation among older adults. The study is based on a theory developed by Thomas Joiner, PhD and his students at Florida State University.

As we are getting ready for the fall semester to begin, one of the administrators in our department asked the returning grad students for "wisdom" to pass on to the new students. My advice was this:

"Real" life doesn't stop because you're in grad school. Travel to somewhere new... climb a mountain... cultivate relationships outside of school... learn how to brew beer... have a baby... whatever it is that makes you happy. These are the things that will keep you going when grad school starts to drive you crazy and will make you a better psychologist in the long run.

"This Emotional Life" is a 3-part series that aired for the first time on PBS this week.

Hosted by Daniel Gilbert, a social psychologist at Harvard and author of "Stumbling on Happiness," the series did a nice job of explaining some pretty sophisticated psychological concepts, using cutting-edge research and interviews with a diverse group of individuals.

Thought I'd share this piece from the DailyOM about transitioning through life's phases. I especially love the last sentence about changing as we grow older: "When we anchor our identity in our spiritual nature, we understand that physical change does not change who we are, but only offers another perspective from which to experience, understand, and celebate life."

This week-end I hiked to the top of Pikes Peak with 2 friends from school and one of our professors to raise money for the Brain Injury Association of Colorado. We trained for the hike all summer and the fact that climbing a really big mountain is a great metaphor for graduate school wasn't lost on any of us. Here's what the hike taught me:

- Adequate preparation before you begin is useful (e.g., having the right equipment, knowing at least a little bit about what you are getting yourself into)