Cognitive Decline Influences Emotional Creativity in the Elderly

Abstract

Little is known about the relationship between emotional creativity and age-related cognitive decline. This study explored how deficits in some cognitive abilities are related to emotional creativity, i.e., cognitive abilities relating to originality and appropriateness in emotional experience. One hundred and eighty-seven older adults (mean age = 63.2; 58.4% females) were administered the Emotional Creativity Inventory, the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale, and the Cognitive Complaint Interview. As hypothesized, emotional creativity was negatively related to apathy and positively to disinhibition/emotional dysregulation. Several processes, such as apathy-related loss of interest, unconcern, subjective lack of energy, and changed perception of one’s disinhibited emotional reactions, may explain the observed results.

Introduction

Emotional creativity (EC) is one of three main areas of general creativity (Ma, 2009). It is a set of cognitive abilities and personality traits related to originality and appropriateness of emotional experience (Averill, 1999; Ivcevic, Brackett, & Mayer, 2007; Moltafet, Sadati Firoozabadi, & Pour-Raisi, 2018). EC has been found to be positively related to positive emotional experiences (Oriol, Amutio, Mendoza, Da Costa, & Miranda, 2016; Sharma & Mathur, 2016), happiness, and life satisfaction, (Frolova & Novoselova, 2015). EC also plays an important role in behavioral self-regulation (Fuchs, Kumar, & Porter, 2007), because it includes cognitive abilities that are crucial for understanding one’s own emotions and the adaptive control of emotions.

EC is interconnected with various cognitive abilities, for example, with cognitive creative abilities (e.g., Fuchs et al., 2007; Ivcevic et al., 2007), strategies for coping with stress (Averill, 1999), or better self-understanding (Ivcevic et al., 2007). EC has been found to be a resource of hardiness, i.e., the ability to react adaptively in situations of increased uncertainty and to find new solutions under increased risk conditions (Frolova & Novoselova, 2015). Surprisingly, despite the interconnection between EC and cognitive abilities, very little is known about the impact of cognitive decline on EC in older adulthood.

The peak and decline model (Lindauer, 1998) suggests that cognitive creativity peaks in early adulthood, and its decline starts when people are in their 30s or 40s. Verbal, as well as visual divergent thinking, after peaking in young adulthood, stabilize in midlife adulthood and then starts declining in older adulthood (Palmiero, Nori, & Piccardi, 2017). Also, other cognitive abilities, such as working memory, processing speed, reasoning, and higher-level executive functions involved in planning, sequencing, coordinating, and inhibiting behaviors, show a decrease in older adulthood (Salthouse, 2010; Salthouse, Atkinson, & Berish, 2003).

In contrast to the decline of most of cognitive abilities, some improvements in cognitive processing and control of emotions occur in older adulthood. Older adults showed improvements in habitual use of problem-solving as an emotion regulation strategy (Le Vigouroux, Pavani, Dauvier, Kop, & Congard, 2017), in using positive reappraisal (Lohani & Isaacowitz, 2014; Shiota & Levenson, 2009), in habitual reappraisal use (John & Gross, 2004; Le Vigouroux et al., 2017; Masumoto, Taishi, & Shiozaki, 2016), in down-regulating feelings of disgust (Scheibe & Blanchard-Fields, 2009), or in habitual suppression use (Brummer, Stopa, & Bucks, 2014; Eldesouky & English, 2018; Nolen-Hoeksema & Aldao, 2011). These improvements are often ascribed to the benefits arising from the accumulation of experience with processing various emotions during the life-course (Blanchard-Fields, 2007, 2009).

Interestingly, EC links both cognitive and emotional processes. As is apparent from this brief overview, cognitive decline influences cognitive and emotional processes in a different way. Therefore, there is an insistent need to explore how age-related cognitive changes influence EC. To our knowledge, no evidence on the relationship between cognitive decline and EC in older adulthood has been made available recently. These reasons inspired the purpose of this study.

Emotional creativity and cognitive creative abilities

EC has three main components: novelty, preparedness, and effectiveness/authenticity (Averill, 1999). Emotional novelty denotes how a person perceives his or her own emotions as being original, unique, uncommon, and improbable. Emotional preparedness includes thinking about one’s own emotional reactions and emotional experiences, searching for the reasons for one’s own feelings, as well as paying attention to other people’s emotions in an effort to better understand one’s own feelings. Emotional effectiveness/authenticity includes effective responding in situations requiring new or unusual emotional responses and the tendency to believe that emotions may help to achieve one’s life goals.

Interestingly, EC has been found to be related to some cognitive creative abilities (e.g., the ability to generate possible consequences of hypothetical situations and the ability to make connections between distant ideas when associating with similar semantic meaning to stimuli words; Ivcevic et al., 2007). The novelty component of EC was positively correlated with both creative event consequences and remote associations, whereas emotional preparedness and effectiveness/authenticity were not (Study 1, Ivcevic et al., 2007). EC has been found to be positively related also to self-perceived creativity capacities (Fuchs et al., 2007; Soroa, Gorostiaga, Aritzeta, & Balluerka, 2015). In contrast, EC was not related to the ability to produce original and useful ideas about the potential uses of common objects in the study of Martsksvishvili, Abuladze, Sordia, and Neubauer (2017). Furthermore, EC also did not play a significant role in divergent thinking creative performances (Zenasni & Lubart, 2008).

Gutbezahl and Averill (1996) examined the relations between EC and artistic creativity when participants drew pictures of discrete emotions. More emotionally creative participants used a more expressionistic style; i.e., they used color and space more creatively and represented emotions in a symbolic, nonfigurative way. In contrast, less emotionally creative participants used a more pictographic style; i.e., they used rather figurative forms and articulated the story through pictures. EC has also been found to be positively correlated with the self-perceived tendency for innovative performance (Wang, Huang, & Zheng, 2015), i.e., with three general cognitive abilities: idea generation, idea promotion and idea realization.

Cognitive decline and emotional processing in older adulthood

Despite the fact that no evidence on the relationship between age-related cognitive decline and EC has been recently available, research on the cognitive processing of emotions in late adulthood can provide us with interesting insights relevant to the scope of this study. Strategies for emotional regulation are suggested to be driven by one’s capacity to effectively modulate emotions by cognitive effort (Allard & Kensinger, 2014; Ochsner & Gross, 2005). Deficits in cognitive control of emotions have been found to be linked with the onset and maintenance of depression (Joormann & Quinn, 2014), with behavioral disinhibition, attentional deficits and a lack of planning (Chamorro et al., 2012). Importantly, impairments in cognitive control of emotionally distracting and intrusive thoughts are suggested to be related to a variety of psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, or obsessive-compulsive disorder (Banich et al., 2009).

Interestingly, older adults are generally suggested to be more competent at emotional regulation than younger adults (Blanchard-Fields, 2007, 2009). This advantage is explained by the effects of learning and practice, i.e., due to the accumulation of experience with regulating various emotions during the life-course. Therefore, older adults are considered to perform more complex, flexible, and emotionally mature functioning than younger adults (Blanchard-Fields, 2007). The question is how EC may be influenced by the accumulation of experience with various emotions during the life-course in older adults.

There are studies supporting the improved cognitive control of emotions in older adults (e.g., Blanchard-Fields, Mienaltowski, & Seay, 2007; Hay & Diehl, 2011); however, some problems in emotional processing arise with cognitive decline in the elderly (Virtanen et al., 2017). The dynamic integration theory (Labouvie-Vief, 2003) suggests that when cognitive decline becomes considerable, the ability of older adults to process and regulate emotions may be worsened. Also, a narrowing of affective space is suggested to occur as a result of cognitive decline. Wurm (2011) brought evidence about the narrowing of affective space in older adults, when he examined the auditory processing of emotion words (Experiment 1). He revealed a narrowing of affective space only in older adults who had reduced availability of cognitive resources (Experiment 2). These findings have important implications for EC, because reduced availability of cognitive resources and narrowed affective space may also impact the emotional creativity abilities of older adults.

This study

The decline in executive function, inhibitory control, and other cognitive abilities responsible for cognitive control of emotions occurs because of gray matter losses in the prefrontal cortex in the elderly (Shiota & Levenson, 2009). Executive function, as well as inhibitory control, are closely connected with regular functioning of the frontal-subcortical brain circuits (Grace & Malloy, 2001). Deficits in these cognitive abilities are considered to be hallmark manifestations of the beginning of frontotemporal dementia (Paholpak et al., 2016). As cognitive deficits emerge with increasing age, one may ask how cognitive decline is related to EC in older adults. The main aim of this study was to explore the relationship between EC and cognitive deficits in four domains, namely executive functions, inhibitory control, memory, and deficits in frontal systems causing apathy.

Cognitive processing of emotions relies on a set of deliberate, controlled cognitive processes, such as working memory, cognitive monitoring, dominant response inhibition, and response generation, collectively known as executive function (Raz, Gunning-Dixon, Head, Dupuis, & Acker, 1998; Sharma & Babu, 2017). Previous research has revealed important interconnections between the cognitive processing of emotions and executive function (e.g., Sharma & Babu, 2017). If cognitive processing of emotions relies on executive function, then worsening of executive function could be related to lower levels of EC in older adults. For the purpose of our study, we hypothesized:

Hypothesis 1.

Older adults with more deficits in executive function show lower emotional creativity.

Furthermore, frequent disinhibited emotional behaviors, such as irritability, emotional lability, sudden emotional outbursts, disinhibited emotional expressions, or increased swearing, accompany cognitive decline in older adults (Grace & Malloy, 2001; Prado‐Jean et al., 2010; Zuidema, de Jonghe, Verhey, & Koopmans, 2009). The occurrence of these behaviors is related to cognitive deficits in inhibitory control. Emotions, whose expression was previously regulated by inhibitory control, are allowed to be expressed more overtly and frequently in individuals with deficits in inhibitory control. Therefore, it is possible that older adults with deficits in inhibitory control may perceive their disinhibited emotional reactions as uncommon for them, e.g., as more sudden, unexpected, or stronger, in comparison to their emotional reactions in the past. The disinhibited emotional behaviors may be perceived as a divergence from ordinary emotional experiences by older adults with cognitive deficits in inhibitory control. Mere divergence from ordinary emotional experiences and the generation of novel emotional reactions are key features of EC (Ivcevic et al., 2007). For the purpose of the study, we hypothesized:

Hypothesis 2.

Older adults with more deficits in inhibitory control show higher emotional creativity.

Worsened functioning of the frontal-subcortical brain circuits is also linked with increased apathy in older adulthood (Grace & Malloy, 2001). Symptoms such as unconcern, loss of interest in doing hobbies, doing nothing, difficulties in finishing duties, or a lack of energy accompany apathy in older adulthood. Very little is known about how apathy influences creative abilities in older adults. However, some studies indicate that apathy may limit creative abilities (e.g., Kleiner-Fisman, Black, & Lang, 2003; Lhommée et al., 2014). Therefore, increased apathy may also be expected to limit EC in older adults. For the purpose of this study, we hypothesized:

Hypothesis 3.

More apathic older adults show lower emotional creativity.

Method

Participants and survey

A total of 187 adults over 55 years of age completed a questionnaire voluntarily and anonymously. All participants were Czech native speakers living in the Czech Republic. The method of sampling included elements of the snowball technique, opportunity sampling, and quota sampling, thus assuring approximately equal proportions of both genders and higher/lower education. The participants were recruited both personally and via e-mail. No participant was living in a retirement home. Seven participants were excluded from further analysis because they were medicated by drugs influencing their emotionality, e.g., psychopharmaceutic drugs or antiepileptic drugs. Two respondents were excluded because they suffered from psychological diseases, e.g., depression, which could influence their emotional experience. The resulting sample included 178 respondents (aged 55–93 years, M ± SD: 63.21 ± 6.88; 58.40% women, 41.60% with higher education).

All questionnaires were distributed personally by 15 trained researchers. The participants completed the questionnaires by paper and pencil in a quiet room without external intrusive noise. We were available to help the whole time as the participants filled out the questionnaires. All participants were informed that the data they are providing are confidential, will be used for research purposes only, and will not be transferred to third parties. All participants provided signed informed consent with participation in the study. The research design was approved by the institutional ethics committee.

Materials

Emotional creativity

EC was measured using the self-report questionnaire, the Emotional Creativity Inventory (ECI; Averill, 1999). This ECI version consists of 30 items rated on a 5-point scale, with anchors of 1 (strongly agree) and 5 (strongly disagree). The total sum range is from a low of 30 to a high of 150. Two of the 30 items are reversely coded. The scores averaged at M ± SD: 91.32 ± 14.49. The internal reliability index (Cronbach’s ɑ) reached .84, which denotes good internal reliability.

The ECI contains three subscales that reflect different facets of EC. The preparedness subscale (M ± SD: 23.33 ± 5.058, Cronbach’s ɑ: .75) includes 7 items like I think about and try to understand my emotional reactions. The novelty subscale (M ± SD: 38.56 ± 7.84, Cronbach’s ɑ: .76) comprises 14 items, such as My emotional reactions are different and unique. The effectiveness/authenticity subscale (M ± SD: 29.43 ± 5.17, Cronbach’s ɑ: .68) embraced 9 items like I respond well in situations that call for new or unusual emotional responses or My outward emotional reactions accurately reflect my inner feelings. As all the components yielded good internal reliability, they were used separately in the later analysis.

Cognitive deficits

The Frontal Systems Behavior Scale (FrSBe; Grace & Malloy, 2001; M ± SD: 96.60 ± 17.81, Cronbach’s ɑ: .88) is a 46-item self-rated behavior rating scale for the assessment of cognitive deficits associated with worsened functioning of the frontal-subcortical brain circuits. It consists of three subscales: executive dysfunction (M ± SD: 36.14 ± 7.48, Cronbach’s ɑ: .76, 16 items), disinhibition/emotional dysregulation (M ± SD: 31.66 ± 6.87, Cronbach’s ɑ: .74, 16 items), and apathy (M ± SD: 28.79 ± 6.61, Cronbach’s ɑ: .71, 14 items). Participants were asked to rate each item according to the following 5-point scale: 1 = almost never, 2 = seldom, 3 = sometimes, 4 = frequently, 5 = almost always. Fourteen of the 46 items are reversed, so they describe behaviors associated with normal functioning of the frontal-subcortical brain circuits. As all the components yielded good internal reliability, they were used separately in the later analysis.

Memory deficits

Cognitive complaints in memory were assessed using the Cognitive Complaint Interview (CCI; Thomas-Antérion, Honoré-Masson, & Laurent, 2006; M ± SD: 18.35 ± 1.71), a self-rated tool consisting of 10 yes-or-no questions focusing on changes in memory occurring over the previous 6 months. Arguably, Cronbach’s ɑ is not an adequate measure of reliability in this case, because the CCI questionnaire is constructed in a way that it measures memory deficits across different domains of everyday life, which makes the final score, based on the yes-or-no questions, multidimensional.

Sociodemographic variables

Sociodemographic variables included age, gender, and level of education of the respondents. Furthermore, the participants were asked about their medication by drugs and if they suffered from psychological diseases.

Results

Relationships between cognitive deficits and ECI in the elderly

To test hypotheses 1, 2, and 3 predicting the relationships between cognitive deficits and ECI in elderly, a multiple linear regression analysis was employed. ECI and its three components served as dependent variables subsequently. The independent variables comprised the three components of the FrSBe as explanatory variables and CCI, gender, age, and education as control variables. Given that all the explanatory and control variables affect the target variable simultaneously, and to correct for the effects of common variance and filter out the possible effects of third variables, all explanatory variables were included in one regression simultaneously. As a result, the following regression formula was used:

(1) $EC{I}_i=b_0+b_{1}FrSB{e}_A+b_{2}FrSB{e}_D+b_{3}FrSB{e}_E+b_{4}CCI+b_{5}Gender+b_{6}Age+b_{7}Edu+\xi$(1)

Where:

• $EC{I}_i$ denotes the ECI components of effectiveness/authenticity (ECI_ea), preparedness (ECI_p), novelty (ECI_n) and subsequently the ECI as a whole.

• $FrSB{e}_A$, $FrSB{e}_D$ and $FrSB{e}_E$ denote the apathy, disinhibition/emotional dysregulation, and executive dysfunction components of the FrSBe

• CCI denotes the CCI score

• Gender and Age stand for gender and age of the respondents

• Edu are the educational dummies standing for primary, secondary, secondary with state exam, and higher education. The higher education dummy was omitted to avoid the dummy variable trap resulting in multicollinearity. The higher education dummy is then referred to as the reference category.

The software SPSS version 25 was used to analyze the data. Though the hypotheses were directional, a two-tailed 5% level of significance was chosen. Based on the central limit theorem, a normal distribution of the data was assumed.

Four multiple regressions were subsequently executed, each for one indicator of ECI or its three components as the dependent variable. Three out of these regressions were statistically significant: the regression for ECI, the effectiveness/authenticity component of ECI, and the preparedness component of ECI. The regression of the novelty component of ECI on the explanatory variables was shown to not be statistically significant. The coefficient estimates, standard errors, p-values, and variance inflation factors (VIF) for the statistically significant multiple regressions are listed in Table 1. From Table 1, it follows that the statistical significance of three presented models was acceptable at the 5% significance level.

TABLE 1 The relationship between the Emotional Creativity Inventory (ECI) and the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale (FrSBe), including subscales, and the results of multivariate regression analysis

	ECIea				ECIp				ECI
Dependent Variable	B	Std. Error	Sig.	VIF	B	Std. Error	Sig.	VIF	B	Std. Error	Sig.	VIF
(Constant)	36.509	7.825	0.000		48.688	7.364	0.000		134.294	21.879	0.000
FrSBeA	−0.187*	0.080	0.020	1.913	−0.198**	0.075	0.009	1.913	−0.507*	0.223	0.024	1.913
FrSBeD	0.110	0.074	0.137	1.804	0.187**	0.069	0.008	1.804	0.493*	0.206	0.018	1.804
FrSBeE	−0.113	0.081	0.166	2.578	−0.179*	0.076	0.020	2.578	−0.214	0.227	0.347	2.578
CCI	0.129	0.255	0.613	1.336	0.761**	0.240	0.002	1.336	1.354	0.713	0.059	1.336
Gender	−0.909	0.781	0.246	1.040	−0.049	0.735	0.947	1.040	−2.343	2.182	0.285	1.040
Age	0.035	0.062	0.576	1.213	−0.078	0.059	0.186	1.213	−0.138	0.175	0.431	1.213
Education elementary	1.976	1.830	0.282	1.139	−1.027	1.723	0.552	1.139	0.353	5.118	0.945	1.139
Education secondary	0.312	1.173	0.791	1.253	0.290	1.104	0.793	1.253	1.463	3.281	0.656	1.253
Education secondary with state exam	0.566	0.862	0.512	1.237	−0.371	0.811	0.648	1.237	1.200	2.409	0.619	1.237
Model sig.	0.046				0.000				0.044
R^2	0.096				0.167				0.097
N	178				178				178

** significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

* significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed)

Note: ECIea denotes the ECI subscale effectiveness/authenticity; ECIp denotes the ECI subscale preparedness; ECI total denotes the ECI total score, FrSBeA denotes the FrSBe subscale apathy; FrSBeD denotes the FrSBe subscale disinhibition; FrSBeE denotes the FrSBeE subscale executive dysfunction. Reference category for education: higher education

CCI stands for Cognitive Complaint Interview

The relationship between executive dysfunction and ECI

Hypothesis 1 predicting the relationship between the executive dysfunction component of the FrSBe and ECI, including its components, expected that older adults with more deficits in executive function would show lower emotional creativity. According to the results presented in Table 1, decreased executive function measured by higher executive dysfunction scores of the FrSBe was associated with lower scores in the preparedness component of the ECI (see Table 1). No statistically significant relationship was found between the executive dysfunction component of the FrSBe and ECI as a whole or in its two other components, i.e., novelty and effectiveness/authenticity. Thus, Hypothesis 1 was partly confirmed.

The relationship between disinhibition and ECI

Hypothesis 2 predicting the relationship between the disinhibition component of the FrSBe and ECI, including its components, expected that older adults with more deficits in inhibitory control would show higher emotional creativity. According to the results presented in Table 1, the disinhibition component of the FrSBe was positively related to ECI as a whole and in its preparedness component (see Table 1). No statistically significant relation was shown between the disinhibition component of the FrSBe and the two other components of ECI, effectiveness/authenticity and novelty. Hypothesis 2 was thus partly confirmed.

The relationship between apathy and ECI

Hypothesis 3 predicting the relationship between the apathy component of the FrSBe and ECI, including its components, expected that older adults exhibiting more apathy show lower emotional creativity. According to the results presented in Table 1, the apathy component of the FrSBe was negatively related to ECI as a whole and to the preparedness and effectiveness/authenticity components of ECI. The novelty component of ECI was not shown to be statistically related to the apathy component of the FrSBe. Hypotheses 3 was thus partly confirmed.

Control variables and ECI

As stated in Table 2, respondents scoring higher on subjective memory deficits exhibited a higher preparedness component of ECI. Neither gender, age, or education was shown to be related to ECI or its components.

TABLE 2 Pearson correlation coefficients for the components of cognitive deficits (Frontal Systems Behavior Scale [FrSBe], apathy, disinhibition, and executive dysfunction), memory deficits (CCI) and age of the participants

		FrSBeA	FrSBeD	FrSBeE	CCI
FrSBeD	Pearson Correlation	0.439**	1
	Sig. (2-tailed)	0.000
FrSBeE	Pearson Correlation	0.649**	0.647**	1
	Sig. (2-tailed)	0.000	0.000
CCI	Pearson Correlation	0.315**	0.315**	0.397**	1
	Sig. (2-tailed)	0.000	0.000	0.000
Age	Pearson Correlation	0.254**	0.009	0.063	0.282**
	Sig. (2-tailed)	0.001	0.908	0.403	0.000

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Note: FrSBeA, FrSBeD, FrSBeE denote the FrSBe subscales of apathy, disinhibition, and preparedness

CCI stands for Cognitive Complaint Interview.

Multicollinearity and correlation analysis

To test the reliability of the results of multiple regressions, correlation and multicollinearity analyses were performed. High correlations between explanatory and control variables may cause a type II error in failing to reject a false null hypothesis. As the components of the FrSBe were highly correlated (Table 2), the VIF values were computed for all the independent variables in the regression to control for multicollinearity (see Table 1). None of the VIFi exceeded the commonly accepted rule-of-thumb threshold of 10 (Marquaridt, 1970; Neter, Wasserman, & Kutner, 1989) or even 5 (Menard, 2001). Thus, the multicollinearity was not high. Table 2 includes Pearson correlations between all the continuous explanatory variables of the regressions above (see formula).

As seen from Table 2, the memory deficits indicator (CCI) was significantly correlated to all three components of the FrSBe, i.e., higher memory deficits were associated with higher values of apathy, disinhibition, and the executive dysfunction of the FrSBe. Due to very low p-values, these result holds at a 5% significance level, even after applying α-corrections. Higher memory deficits were also positively associated with the age of the elderly. Furthermore, age was also shown to be positively related to the apathy subscale of the FrSBe (see Table 2).

Discussion

This study has brought new insights into the impact of cognitive decline on EC in the elderly. Cognitive deficits in four domains, i.e., memory, executive function, inhibitory control, and deficits in frontal systems causing apathy, were monitored. Some of these domains were significantly related to EC, others were not.

Interestingly, the preparedness component of the ECI was significantly related to memory deficits, as well as to all three areas of cognitive deficits associated with worsened functioning of the frontal-subcortical brain circuits, i.e., executive dysfunction, disinhibition/emotional dysregulation, and apathy (see Table 1). Emotional preparedness involves thinking about one’s own emotional reactions and emotional experiences, searching for the reasons for one’s own feelings or paying attention to other people’s emotions in an effort to better understand one’s own feelings. Thus, the results of this study indicate that cognitive deficits may also influence the cognitive effort to think about one’s own emotions. Several relationships can be found when looking at the results of present study in more detail, as follows.

First, participants with more deficits in inhibitory control showed higher EC. This difference was significant both when considering the ECI total score and the preparedness component of the ECI. These results support the hypothesized assumption about the influence of disinhibited emotional reactions on the changed perception of one’s own emotions in older adults. Ivcevic et al. (2007) pointed out that divergence from ordinary emotional experience is a key feature of EC, because EC involves the ability to diverge from the common and generate novel emotional reactions. Irritability, emotional lability and frequent sudden emotional outbursts are examples of behaviors accompanying deficits in inhibitory control (Grace & Malloy, 2001; Prado‐Jean et al., 2010; Zuidema et al., 2009). These kinds of emotional reactions may represent a divergence from the past emotional reactions of participants with deficits in inhibitory control. Such disinhibited emotional behaviors may also cause older adults to think more about their emotional reactions. As mentioned, the preparedness component of EC, positively related to disinhibition, involves thinking about one’s own emotional reactions and emotional experiences.

Second, the participants reporting more apathy were less emotionally creative than less apathic participants. This difference was significant when considering the ECI total score, as well as two of the three ECI components, preparedness and effectiveness/authenticity. Apathy is linked with symptoms such as unconcern, loss of interest in doing hobbies, doing nothing, difficulties in finishing duties or lack of energy. The results of this study indicate that apathy also limits emotionally creative abilities in older adults.

Third, executive dysfunction was associated with lower scores in the preparedness component of the ECI. Thus, participants showing a decline in executive function were less engaged in thinking about their own emotional reactions, emotional experiences, searching reasons for their own feelings, etc. These results make sense when considering behavioral manifestations of executive dysfunction. Disorganized thinking, problems with concentration, and frequently forgetting to do something are typical manifestations of executive dysfunction (Grace & Malloy, 2001). Thus, disorganization of cognitive processes may also be related to difficulties in paying attention to one’s emotions. Problems with concentration and paying attention accompanying executive dysfunction can also make self-reflection, e.g., searching for the reasons for one’s own feelings, more problematic.

Fourth, the occurrences of memory deficits were associated with higher scores in the preparedness component of the ECI. Participants who reported more cognitive complaints in memory were more engaged in thinking about their own emotional reactions and emotional experiences. The higher cognitive effort needed to process emotions may indicate that retrieval of emotional memories may have been more difficult for participants with memory deficits. Problems with retrieval of past emotional episodes may be related to generally more problematic retrieval of memories of any kind in these participants. Furthermore, it is also possible that cognitive complaints in memory may make ascribing sense to emotional episodes more difficult. This may be due to worsened access to emotional knowledge. Emotional knowledge is a kind of knowledge used for better understanding of emotional episodes and is formed by storing previously experienced sensory, motor, physiological, and introspective states (Oosterwijk, Rotteveel, Fischer, & Hess, 2009). More research is needed in this field.

The results of this study advance the understanding of the relationship between cognition and emotionality in older adults. They may also have some clinical implications, for example, for the psychological assessment of preclinical stages of common neurological diseases. On one hand, the preclinical stages of common neurological diseases in old age are characterized by subtle cognitive changes (Sperling et al., 2011). There is evidence that some neuropsychological methods are able to detect the early presence of Alzheimer’s disease, for example (Rentz et al., 2013). On the other hand, the preclinical stages of neurodegenerative diseases are also accompanied by emotional changes and changes in creativity. Apathy and decline in socially appropriate behavior, judgment, and self-control have been found to accompany the preclinical stages of frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD; Rascovsky et al., 2011). Furthermore, depression and anxiety can precede Parkinson’s disease (Wu, Le, & Jankovic, 2011). There is evidence that, for example, primary progressive aphasia can be preceded by changes in creativity (Seeley et al., 2007). Given all these reasons, a better understanding of the link between emotionality and cognitive processes can contribute to a more complex understanding of age-related behavioral changes in the elderly. At a practical level, the results of this study indicate that EC is a suitable construct that may inspire future designing and implementing of a psychological method for diagnosing not only cognitive changes, but also changes within cognitive-affective interplay in older adults. Further research on the relationship between EC and neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease or FTLD, characterized more by emotional than cognitive changes in the early stages, is needed.

This study has several limitations. It is a single, correlational study, and the results presented herein should be taken with caution. More systematic, replicable studies are needed in this field. Furthermore, the state of cognitive functions was not measured by objective cognitive measures, and cognitive deficits were determined on a self-reporting basis in our sample of older adults. Thus, future research could benefit from the utilization of a more complex battery of neuropsychological tests.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Czech Science Foundation (GA CR), project no. 18-26094S “Emotional creativity and cognitive decline in the elderly”.