An online, updated battery for episodic memory and executive control composites in older adults.

Introduction: Neuropsychological perspectives on aging suggest that episodic memory and executive control are highly vulnerable. Previous studies have used composite indexes representing young and older adults' relative performance in each of these two domains. However, the episodic memory measures that have made up that composite are often common clinical ones (e.g., Logical Memory from Wechsler Memory Scale) and may therefore be susceptible to practice and/or ceiling effects.

Method: In the present study, we replaced the previous episodic memory measures with new ones that are novel, reliable, valid, and easy to administer online, and asked how they fit together and with the existing executive control composite. We also examined the relations between the updated composite scores and participant age, sex, and several health characteristics (i.e., depressive and anxiety symptoms, sleep, medications, vascular health, and COVID-19 infection). We administered our updated battery to healthy young (YA; n = 97) and older adults (OA; n = 96) over videoconference.

Results: Using confirmatory factor analysis with age invariance testing, we successfully replicated the two-factor structure in OAs but not in YAs. YAs had higher episodic memory composite scores than OAs, whereas the inverse was true for executive control. In both age groups, males had higher executive control composite scores than females. Although many of the health-related variables differed between age groups in the expected direction, none were significantly associated with either composite after adjusting for multiple analyses.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that this updated battery may be suitable for remote use with healthy older adults and is related to participant sex. Additional studies replicating our factor structures in larger samples will be beneficial.