Dynamic neurocognitive adaptation in aging: Development and validation of a new scale

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AbstractINTRODUCTIONForty‐five percent of Alzheimer's disease (AD) cases may have been preventable through protective factors. Reserve, resilience, and resistance share common neurocognitive adaptive processes, acting through protective mechanisms. In this article we propose the development and validation of a new scale, called dynamic Neurocognitive Adaptation, developed in this direction.METHODSWe included 815 participants (50% women; 65+ years inclusive of age), divided into two subsamples for exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Our initial scale was composed of 30 items, investigating seven dimensions, explored by a 5‐point Likert scale reflecting the frequency of activities, for seven time windows.RESULTSOur final scale had 20 items divided among four dimensions: physical, cognitive, creative, and social. There were no issues related to multi‐collinearity or non‐collinearity. Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) = 0.80 and Bartlett's test of sphericity indicated all values ≤0.01; Cronbach's alpha = 0.83.DISCUSSIONWe have validated a reliable, novel, easy to complete, and comprehensive scale to assess lifetime behaviors, which can be applied in research on AD risk reduction, mild cognitive impairment, and in clinical practice.Highlights Reserve, resistance, and resilience share similar adaptive mechanisms. Dynamic Neurocognitive Adaptation is a new scale to assess lifetime protective factors. Dynamic Neurocognitive Adaptation is a reliable, novel, and easy to complete scale. This approach can characterize specific life stages that are ripe for risk‐reduction interventions. Our scale can be used to personalize health recommendations in aging.