title: Neuropsychological mediators of the links among age, chronic illness, and everyday problem solving.
abstract: Reductions in everyday problem solving (EPS) are often reported in older age, although the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. The authors examined the role of 2 variables predicted to mediate (neuropsychological abilities and health status) or moderate (health status) the relationship between age and EPS performance. Toward these ends, they compared EPS and neuropsychological performance in 50 functionally independent adults with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and 64 control participants matched on age and education. Both older age and CKD were associated with worse performance on measures of EPS and memory/executive abilities. Neuropsychological abilities were positively associated with EPS performance. In both the full sample and control participants only, memory/executive functioning mediated the association between presence of chronic illness and EPS. Furthermore, memory/executive functioning partially mediated the link between age and EPS. Findings indicate that relations among age, health status, and EPS are not straightforward. Although performance on neuropsychological measures appeared to underlie EPS declines in chronic illness, increasing age remained independently associated with reduced EPS. The authors discuss implications for models of adult developmental changes in everyday cognition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. wthornto@sfu.ca
authors.forename: Wendy Loken
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Thornton
authors.forename: Sirad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Deria
authors.forename: Shannon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gelb
authors.forename: R Jean
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Shapiro
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hill
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001288:Attention; D001955:British Columbia; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000523:psychology*; D007677:Kidney Function Tests; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011340:Problem Solving; D012803:Sick Role; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014706:Verbal Learning; D014825:Vocabulary