Poorer mental health exacerbates cognitive deficits in old age
Few studies have examined the association between within-person (WP) reaction time (RT) variability and mental health (depression, anxiety, and social dysphoria) in old age. Therefore, we investigated mental health (using the General Health Questionnaire) and cognitive function (mean RT or WP variab...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
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Taylor and Francis
2014
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| _version_ | 1797079420185346048 |
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| author | Bauermeister, S Bunce, D |
| author_facet | Bauermeister, S Bunce, D |
| author_sort | Bauermeister, S |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Few studies have examined the association between within-person (WP) reaction time (RT) variability and mental health (depression, anxiety, and social dysphoria) in old age. Therefore, we investigated mental health (using the General Health Questionnaire) and cognitive function (mean RT or WP variability) in 257 healthy, community-dwelling adults aged 50–90 years (M = 63.60). The cognitive domains assessed were psychomotor performance, executive function, visual search, and recognition. Structural equation models revealed that for WP variability, but not mean RT, poorer mental health was associated with visual search and immediate recognition deficits in older persons and that these relationships were partially mediated by executive function. The dissociation between mean RT and WP variability provides evidence that the latter measure may be particularly sensitive to the subtle effects of mental health on cognitive function in old age. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T00:45:34Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:8485b410-5b72-4016-8fa5-5484fa93893e |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T00:45:34Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | Taylor and Francis |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:8485b410-5b72-4016-8fa5-5484fa93893e2022-03-26T21:51:46ZPoorer mental health exacerbates cognitive deficits in old ageJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:8485b410-5b72-4016-8fa5-5484fa93893eSymplectic Elements at OxfordTaylor and Francis2014Bauermeister, SBunce, DFew studies have examined the association between within-person (WP) reaction time (RT) variability and mental health (depression, anxiety, and social dysphoria) in old age. Therefore, we investigated mental health (using the General Health Questionnaire) and cognitive function (mean RT or WP variability) in 257 healthy, community-dwelling adults aged 50–90 years (M = 63.60). The cognitive domains assessed were psychomotor performance, executive function, visual search, and recognition. Structural equation models revealed that for WP variability, but not mean RT, poorer mental health was associated with visual search and immediate recognition deficits in older persons and that these relationships were partially mediated by executive function. The dissociation between mean RT and WP variability provides evidence that the latter measure may be particularly sensitive to the subtle effects of mental health on cognitive function in old age. |
| spellingShingle | Bauermeister, S Bunce, D Poorer mental health exacerbates cognitive deficits in old age |
| title | Poorer mental health exacerbates cognitive deficits in old age |
| title_full | Poorer mental health exacerbates cognitive deficits in old age |
| title_fullStr | Poorer mental health exacerbates cognitive deficits in old age |
| title_full_unstemmed | Poorer mental health exacerbates cognitive deficits in old age |
| title_short | Poorer mental health exacerbates cognitive deficits in old age |
| title_sort | poorer mental health exacerbates cognitive deficits in old age |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bauermeisters poorermentalhealthexacerbatescognitivedeficitsinoldage AT bunced poorermentalhealthexacerbatescognitivedeficitsinoldage |