Predictors of Depressive Symptomatology in Family Caregivers of Wom-en With Substance Use Disorders or Co-Occurring Substance Use and Mental Disorders

This study utilized a stress-process model to examine the impact of having a female family member with substance use or co-occurring substance use and mental disorders on family caregivers\u27 depressive symptomatology. Participants were 82 women receiving substance abuse treatment and the family member providing the most social support for each woman. Greater caregiver depressive symptomatology was predicted by greater care recipient emotional problems, less care recipient social support, and poor caregiver health. Implications of findings for treatment and future research are discusse

Reply to: Say What?! Ableist Logic Used in Misguided Attempt to Combat Ageism During COVID‐19

This letter comments on the letter by Bonnie Lashewicz

Technology-Mediated Communication in Familial Relationships: Moderated-Mediation Models of Isolation and Loneliness

Background and ObjectivesWe examined whether technology-mediated communication has functional or emotional equivalence to face-to-face (FtF) contact in familial relationships, by scrutinizing the effects of phone, text/e-mail, and video contact on isolation and loneliness.Research Design and MethodsWe tested whether FtF contact with a relative would mediate the pathway between proximity to family and (i) isolation and (ii) loneliness. We then tested hypotheses that telephone, text/e-mails, and video contact would moderate this mediated pathway. We compared models for younger (<75) and older (≥75) cohorts, expecting to observe moderation effects for text/e-mail and video contact in the younger cohort only. Data were drawn from Wave 2 of CFAS Wales (United Kingdom) study (N = 2,099).ResultsProximity to a relative had a significant indirect effect on isolation and loneliness through the mediating variable FtF contact. Phone and text/e-mail contact moderated the effect of FtF contact on isolation for all samples. None of the technologies moderated the impact of FtF contact on loneliness for the full sample. Telephone contact had a moderating influence on loneliness for the younger cohort only. Video calls had no significant moderation effect.Discussion and ImplicationsTelephone and text/e-mail contact have functional equivalence to FtF contact in familial relationships. None of the forms of technological communication have emotional equivalence to the “gold standard” of embodied presence. The study demonstrates the importance of theorizing about the pathways to isolation and loneliness to better understand the likelihood of implementing successful interventions using technology-mediated communication within families

How to Publish: Guidance From GSA’s Journal Editors

Abstract Each year he GSA publications team sponsors a symposium to assist authors who wish to publish in GSA’s high impact and influential journals. The first part of the session will include five brief presentations from the editors of The Gerontologist, Innovation and Aging, and the Journals of Gerontology Series A and B plus GSA’s managing editors. We will integrate practical tips with principles of publication ethics and scholarly integrity. The topics will be as follows: (1) Preparing your manuscript: strong and ethical scholarly writing for multidisciplinary audiences, (2) common problems that affect peer review, (3) addressing translational significance and fit to journal expectations, (4) transparency, documentation, and Open Science; and (5) working with Scholar One. Following these presentations, we will hold round table discussions with editors from the GSA journals portfolio. At these round tables, editors will answer questions related to the podium presentations and other questions specific to each journal. Intended audiences include emerging and international scholars, and authors interested in learning more about best practices and tips for getting their scholarly work published.</jats:p

Strong and Ethical Scholarly Writing for Multidisciplinary Audiences

Abstract This presentation will emphasize the importance of plain, good writing. Editors of high impact journals read 10 or more manuscripts per week, and are under pressure to reject 80-90% of them. Regardless of scholarly quality, if the point and contribution are not clear in a quick scan of the paper, it likely will not be reviewed favorably. I will provide tips for strong scientific writing that are commonly violated in manuscript submissions, and provide references for additional writing support. I will also discuss some common publication ethics issues that arise during the review process, including author contributions and embedding your scholarship in the context of prior work.</jats:p

Preparing Your Manuscript: Strong and Ethical Scholarly Writing for Multidisciplinary Audiences

Abstract This presentation will emphasize the importance of plain, good writing. Editors read 10 or more manuscripts per week with pressure to reject 80-90% of them. If the point and contribution are not clear in a quick scan of the paper, it will not be reviewed favorably. I will provide tips for writing that are commonly violated in submissions, provide references for additional writing support, cover expectations for language consistent with GSA’s Reframing Aging initiative, and discuss some common publication ethics issues that arise during the review process, including author contributions and embedding your scholarship in the context of prior work.</jats:p