title: The association of anxiety and depressive symptoms with cognitive performance in community-dwelling older adults.
abstract: The authors examined the association of anxiety, depressive symptoms, and their co-occurrence on cognitive processes in 102 community-dwelling older adults. Participants completed anxiety and depression questionnaires as well as measures of episodic and semantic memory, word fluency, processing speed/shifting attention, and inhibition. Participants with only increased anxiety had poorer processing speed/shifting attention and inhibition, but depressive symptoms alone were not associated with any cognitive deficits. Although coexisting anxiety and depressive symptoms were associated with deficits in 3 cognitive domains, reductions in inhibition were solely attributed to anxiety. Findings suggest an excess cognitive load on inhibitory ability in normal older adults reporting mild anxiety.
authors.affiliation: Sierra Pacific Mental Illness, Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC) at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California 94304, USA. sherryb@stanford.edu
authors.forename: Sherry A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Beaudreau
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: O'Hara
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003625:Data Collection; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires