Sustained Purpose in Life is Associated With Slower Cognitive Decline in Older Adults: A Longitudinal Analysis With a Diverse National Sample.

IF 4.8 2区医学 Q1 GERIATRICS & GERONTOLOGY

Journals of Gerontology Series B-Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences Pub Date : 2025-05-08 DOI:10.1093/geronb/gbaf021

Elliot M Friedman, Patricia A Thomas, Madison R Sauerteig-Rolston, Lisa L Barnes, Kenneth F Ferraro

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objectives: Purpose in life is positively associated with cognitive function and better maintenance of cognitive function over time in aging adults. However, purpose in life itself declines over time, and we examined whether such changes are related to changes in cognition and whether this varied by race and ethnicity.

Method: The current study used 3 waves of data from the nationally representative survey, Health and Retirement Study (HRS; N = 9,808), to examine the longitudinal associations between purpose in life and cognitive function in White, Black, and Hispanic adults age 65 and older. Purpose in life was measured using the 7-item version of the Ryff Psychological Well-Being scale. Cognitive function was assessed using a modified version of the TICS (Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status).

Results: Growth curve models showed that purpose in life and cognitive function both declined over time, initial levels of purpose and cognitive function were positively associated, and less decline in purpose was associated with less decline in cognitive function. Addition of interaction terms for race and ethnicity showed that the positive association between initial levels of purpose in life and cognitive function was stronger in Black participants than in White or Hispanic participants; there were no racial or ethnic differences in the longitudinal associations.

Discussion: These results show that maintaining higher levels of purpose in life may protect cognitive abilities in older adults from diverse racial and ethnic groups.

查看原文本刊更多论文

生活中持续的目标与老年人较慢的认知衰退有关：一项不同国家样本的纵向分析。

目的：生活目标与老年人的认知功能和更好地维持认知功能呈正相关。然而，生活目标本身随着时间的推移而下降，我们研究了这种变化是否与认知的变化有关，以及这种变化是否因种族和民族而异。方法：本研究使用了来自全国代表性调查的三波数据，健康与退休研究(HRS；N = 9808)，研究65岁及以上的白人、黑人和西班牙裔成年人的生活目标与认知功能之间的纵向关联。生活目标是用瑞夫心理健康量表的7个项目来衡量的。认知功能评估采用改进版的TICS（认知状态电话访谈）。结果：成长曲线模型显示，人生目标与认知功能均随时间的推移而下降，目标与认知功能的初始水平呈正相关，目标下降越少，认知功能下降越少。种族和民族的相互作用条件的增加表明，生活目标的初始水平与认知功能之间的正相关在黑人参与者中比在白人或西班牙裔参与者中更强；在纵向关联中没有种族或民族差异。讨论：这些结果表明，在生活中保持较高水平的目标可能会保护不同种族和民族的老年人的认知能力。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journals of Gerontology Series B-Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 医学-老年医学

CiteScore

11.60

自引率

8.10%

发文量

178

审稿时长

6-12 weeks

期刊介绍： The Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences publishes articles on development in adulthood and old age that advance the psychological science of aging processes and outcomes. Articles have clear implications for theoretical or methodological innovation in the psychology of aging or contribute significantly to the empirical understanding of psychological processes and aging. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, attitudes, clinical applications, cognition, education, emotion, health, human factors, interpersonal relations, neuropsychology, perception, personality, physiological psychology, social psychology, and sensation.