About the problems of normal and abnormal aging in the new issue of journal "Clinical Psychology and Special Education"
The new issue of the journal "Clinical Psychology and Special Education" is published.
The new issue is dedicated to the problems of normal and abnormal aging. Six articles in this issue are devoted to this topic. A theoretical article by V. D. Tretyakova and K. I. Pultsina provides an overview of theories of cognitive aging, such as the theory of frontal cortex aging, compensatory theories, the theory of reserve, the theory sensory deprivation and the theory reducing the speed of information processing. The study of neurophysiological aspects of aging continues in the review articles by I. S. Polikanov, I. N. Mikheev and S. V. Leonov and O. V. Martynov, who examine age-related characteristics of alpha rhythm generation and its relationship to cognitive functions.
Individual problems of the elderly and senile age are discussed in the following two review articles. A.A. Agisheva presented an overview of research on the experience of parental grief at the loss of adult children. The specifics of grief in old age and its dependence on the type of loss have been studied. T.K. Konovalchik's review article examines the little-studied topic of fear of falling in old age in Russian psychology. The interrelation of fear of falling with the sensory, cognitive, and personal characteristics of the elderly is shown, as well as patterns of representation of fear of falling in various diseases and its impact on the full functioning and quality of life in old age.
Empirical works are presented in two articles. A study by a team of authors from the N.P. Bekhtereva Institute of the Human Brain investigated psychological factors affecting the health of young and elderly people in calm and post-stress states. It was found that older people demonstrate greater ability to regulate their psychological health due to their positive attitudes towards maintaining health. The article by I.V. Vasilyeva and M.V. Chumakov showed that health, positive emotions, employment, material prosperity, and family are the main ideas of well-being in old age.
The second part of this issue presents the results of empirical, methodological, and applied research on various topics.
The problems of special psychology are considered in the works of authors from Moscow State University of Psychology and Education. A.I. Andriashina and L.A. Tishina's study involved younger schoolchildren with severe speech disorders and mental retardation. The ascertaining experiment established general and specific patterns of intellectual operation formation for both groups of children. U.A. Mamohina et al.'s experiment conducted by a team of employees from MGPPU's laboratory on comprehensive speech research with children with autism and other developmental disabilities studied the possibilities of using FM systems in schools for children with ASD.
The topic of information and psychological security was touched upon in two studies. In the study by Yu.V. Bykhovets and N.N. Kazymova, the dynamics of the experience of a terrorist threat among female students was studied. It is shown that after the terrorist attack on March 22, 2024 at Crocus City Hall, there was an increase in the experience of terrorist threats due to increased vigilance, alertness, forecasting of new terrorist attacks, concern for loved ones, and need to receive and discuss information about terrorist incidents. Eight months later, these parameters remained unchanged, and in addition, hostility towards people of other nationalities increased. The study conducted by A.B. Serykh and co-authors, on a large sample of young men of military age, show the relationship between psychological health characteristics and spiritual and moral values and the peculiarities of interaction with destructive information content. They note that exposure to such information can lead to social isolation, distrust, and aggression, which has a negative impact on young people's psychological health.
Continuing the topic of health and information security, there is an article about the risks of seeking health information and self-medication (by A.A. Maksimenko and A.A Zolotareva). The authors present the results of adapting the Online Health Information Search Scale (OHISS) to a Russian sample.
The issue ends with congratulations from colleagues and students on the December anniversaries of Tatiana Germanovna Goryacheva and Igor Viktorovich Vachkov. The editorial staff of the journal join in the congratulations and wish our wonderful anniversarians good health, happiness, and creative success!