Neuroticism moderates the daily relation between stressors and memory failures.
The present investigation extends previous work on the relationship between daily stressors and memory failures in a naturalistic setting by examining whether this relationship varies across levels of neuroticism. A daily diary study of 333 older adults (mean age = 73.27 years, SD = 7.17) in the Veterans Affairs Normative Aging Study (see A. Spiro & R. Bossé, 2001, for additional information) was used to examine whether there were neuroticism differences in cognitive reactivity to daily stressors. Multilevel models indicated that on days when people high in neuroticism experienced stressors, particularly interpersonal stressors, they were more likely to report memory failures compared to those who were lower in neuroticism. The findings may have important implications for age-related cognitive decline.
Department of Psychology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7650, USA. shevaun_neupert@ncsu.edu
Shevaun D
SD
Neupert
Daniel K
DK
Mroczek
Avron
A
Spiro
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000647:Amnesia / Q000523:psychology*; D001143:Arousal; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D033182:Intention; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D009497:Neurotic Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications*