TY - JOUR
T1 - Change in the psychological self in people living with dementia
T2 - A scoping review
AU - Mentzou, Aikaterini
AU - Sixsmith, Judith
AU - Ellis, Maggie P.
AU - Ross, Josephine
N1 - Funding Information:
Aikaterini Mentzou is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Dundee, awarded by the Scottish Graduate School of Social Sciences (SGSSS) and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). SGSSS and ESRC had no role in the study design, analysis or interpretation of the data, writing the manuscript, or the decision to submit the paper for publication.
Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
PY - 2023/4
Y1 - 2023/4
N2 - Alterations in one's sense of self are often considered a significant psychological symptom of dementia. However, the self is not a unified construct; it consists of a set of closely connected, yet substantive, manifestations which might not be equally impacted by dementia. Recognising the multidimensional nature of the self, the current scoping review aimed to explore the nature and scope of the evidence demonstrating change in the psychological self in people living with dementia. Adopting a cognitive psychological framework, a hundred and five (105) quantitative and qualitative studies were reviewed, and findings were organised into three main types of self-manifestations: high-order manifestations, functional aspects of the self, and foundational manifestations. Overall, the results show that although there are alterations in some of these different manifestations of the self, these do not imply a global loss of selfhood. Despite notable cognitive changes during dementia, it seems that preserved aspects of self may be enough to compensate for potential weakening of some self-processes such as autobiographical recall. Better understanding alterations in selfhood is key to addressing psychological symptoms of people living with dementia, such as feelings of disconnection and reduced agency, and may inform new pathways for dementia care interventions.
AB - Alterations in one's sense of self are often considered a significant psychological symptom of dementia. However, the self is not a unified construct; it consists of a set of closely connected, yet substantive, manifestations which might not be equally impacted by dementia. Recognising the multidimensional nature of the self, the current scoping review aimed to explore the nature and scope of the evidence demonstrating change in the psychological self in people living with dementia. Adopting a cognitive psychological framework, a hundred and five (105) quantitative and qualitative studies were reviewed, and findings were organised into three main types of self-manifestations: high-order manifestations, functional aspects of the self, and foundational manifestations. Overall, the results show that although there are alterations in some of these different manifestations of the self, these do not imply a global loss of selfhood. Despite notable cognitive changes during dementia, it seems that preserved aspects of self may be enough to compensate for potential weakening of some self-processes such as autobiographical recall. Better understanding alterations in selfhood is key to addressing psychological symptoms of people living with dementia, such as feelings of disconnection and reduced agency, and may inform new pathways for dementia care interventions.
KW - Dementia
KW - Review
KW - Self
KW - Selfhood
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85149483590&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.cpr.2023.102268
DO - 10.1016/j.cpr.2023.102268
M3 - Review article
C2 - 36898295
SN - 1873-7811
VL - 101
JO - Clinical Psychology Review
JF - Clinical Psychology Review
M1 - 102268
ER -