Abstract
The close interlink between physical and mental health outcomes has long been recognised in gerontological research. Mental-physical comorbidities – the presence of at least one physical health long term condition, and at least one mental health-related long term condition are common in older age individuals. Numerous studies have shown a positive association between the prevalence of multimorbidity and age so, as the population of older individuals in developed nations continues to grow, multimorbidity is likely to become increasingly higher in ageing populations. A major goal in current gerontological neuropsychology and neuroepidemiological research is to better understand how interindividual differences in cognitive and mental health in old age emerge. Cognitive reserve (a marker of brain resilience) may come into play when facing stressors that affect cognitive decline and mental health, such as suffering from chronic diseases. We present data from three different longitudinal studies of ageing i) the Lothian Birth Cohort of 1921, ii) PREVENT and iii) the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing from the United Kingdom. These studies are ideally placed to address key research questions related to mental ageing, psychological health, terminal decline and their determinants. We explored the following objectives: 1) to investigate the association between an increasing number of chronic physical conditions, medication and mental disorders 2) to assess the role of childhood intelligence and education on the terminal decline in later life 3) to investigate the associations between different markers of cognitive reserve and dementia
Highlights
Concern exists about the health and well-being of football players, yet little research exists on the psychosocial risk and protective factors of NFL athletes’ well-being
The present study focuses on the direction of health predicting social integration as it is not yet fully understood how different aspects of health may affect social integration
We examined independent contributions of PA and CA to “brain maintenance” (MRI markers of brain integrity) versus “cognitive reserve” in two independent samples of non-demented older adults (UCSF n=344; UCD n=482)
Summary
Concern exists about the health and well-being of football players, yet little research exists on the psychosocial risk and protective factors of NFL athletes’ well-being. Associations between late-life social integration and health have been found to be reciprocal. Using two-wave data from a community-based sample (N = 413, mean age 80 at baseline), the present study investigates whether depressive symptoms, chronic health conditions, functional limitations, and self-rated health independently predicted multiple dimensions of social integration over two years. These findings highlight the important role of subjective health for maintaining late-life social integration.
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