Abstract
BackgroundThe study aim was to determine if state and trait intra-individual measures of everyday affect predict cognitive functioning in healthy older community dwelling European adults (n = 387), aged 55-87 years.MethodsParticipants were recruited from centres in France, Italy and Northern Ireland. Trait level and variability in positive and negative affect (PA and NA) were assessed using self-administered PANAS scales, four times a day for four days. State mood was assessed by one PANAS scale prior to assessment of recognition memory, spatial working memory, reaction time and sustained attention using the CANTAB computerized test battery.ResultsA series of hierarchical regression analyses were carried out, one for each measure of cognitive function as the dependent variable, and socio-demographic variables (age, sex and social class), state and trait mood measures as the predictors. State PA and NA were both predictive of spatial working memory prior to looking at the contribution of trait mood. Trait PA and its variability were predictive of sustained attention. In the final step of the regression analyses, trait PA variability predicted greater sustained attention, whereas state NA predicted fewer spatial working memory errors, accounting for a very small percentage of the variance (1-2%) in the respective tests.ConclusionMoods, by and large, have a small transient effect on cognition in this older sample.
Highlights
The study aim was to determine if state and trait intra-individual measures of everyday affect predict cognitive functioning in healthy older community dwelling European adults (n = 387), aged 55-87 years
Older adults (70-87 yrs) showed lower levels of state and trait positive affect (PA) and less variability in PA than the younger group (55-70 yrs); trait negative affect (NA) was slightly higher in the older age group
The results suggested that both state PA and NA predicted a small amount of the variance in SWM in step two of the regression models and that trait PA and its variability predicted a small amount of the variance in Match to sample visual search (MTS) in the final model
Summary
The study aim was to determine if state and trait intra-individual measures of everyday affect predict cognitive functioning in healthy older community dwelling European adults (n = 387), aged 55-87 years. Most of the cross-sectional research on healthy community dwelling older adults suggests that attention, working memory and speed of information processing decline gradually in adults from their 20s up to 60 years of age (Craik and Byrd, 1982; Kramer et al 2004; Salthouse, 2009), with a more rapid decline beyond 70 years of age (Ronnlund et al 2005; Schaie, 2005), even when investigated longitudinally (Salthouse, 2010). Higher socioeconomic status has been associated with better cognitive function in later life (Herrmann and Guadagna, 1997; Richardson, 1999) and will be investigated as a potential predictor of memory in the current study
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