title: Anxious symptoms and cognitive function in non-demented older adults: an inverse relationship.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The goals of this study were to determine the relationship between anxious symptoms and cognitive functioning in a non-demented, community-dwelling older adults sample (n = 48), and to determine the effect of depressive symptoms upon this relationship.
  
  
  METHODS
  Anxious and depressive symptoms were assessed using the Symptom Checklist 90--Revised. Cognitive functioning was assessed with the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results indicated that although both cognitive functioning and anxious symptoms were within normal limits in this sample, anxious symptoms showed a significant, inverse relationship with global cognitive function [r(47) = -0.400, p = 0.005]. In addition, specific relationships were noted between severity of anxious symptoms and visuospatial/constructional ability as well as immediate and delayed memory. With regard to the secondary objective, both anxiety and depressive symptoms together accounted for the highest level of variance [R(2)  = 0.175, F(2, 45) = 4.786, p = 0.013] compared with anxiety [R(2) (47) = 0.160, p = 0.005] and depression [R(2) (47) = 0.106, p = 0.024] alone. Nevertheless, neither anxious nor depressive symptoms emerged as a unique correlate with cognitive ability [r(47) = -0.278, p = 0.058; r(48) = -0.136, p = 0.363, respectively].
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrates that subthreshold anxiety symptoms and cognitive functioning are significantly related even among generally healthy older adults whose cognitive ability and severity of anxious symptoms are within broad normal limits. These findings have implications both for clinical care of older patients, as well as for cognitive research studies utilizing this population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, IA, USA.
authors.forename: Ashley N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Stillman
authors.forename: Kelly C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Rowe
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arndt
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Moser
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests