title: The dynamic relationship between cognitive function and positive well-being in older people: a prospective study using the English Longitudinal Study of Aging.
abstract: There is evidence that having a stronger sense of positive well-being may be a potential resource for healthier aging as represented by slower physical decline, reduced risk of frailty and longer survival. However, it is unclear whether positive well-being is protective of another crucial component of healthy aging, cognitive function, or whether it has a bidirectional relationship with cognitive function. We use multilevel models with within-person centering to estimate the within- and between-person association between cognitive function and positive well-being in 4 waves of data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), (N = 10985, aged 50-90 years at wave 1). Our findings show that, although most variation in cognitive function was explained by age, and most variation in well-being was explained by depression, small but significant associations between cognition and well-being remained after variation in age and depression were controlled. In models where cognition was the outcome, the association was mainly because of variation in mean levels of well-being between persons. In models where well-being was the outcome, the association was mainly because of within-person fluctuation in cognitive test performance. Exercise and depression were the most important moderating influences on the association between cognition and positive well-being. Depression had greater effect upon this association for those with higher well-being, but exercise protected cognitive performance against the adverse effects of lower well-being.
authors: Centre for Cognitive Ageing & Cognitive Epidemiology.
authors: Mike
authors: M
authors: Allerhand
authors: Centre for Cognitive Ageing & Cognitive Epidemiology.
authors: Catharine R
authors: CR
authors: Gale
authors: Centre for Cognitive Ageing & Cognitive Epidemiology.
authors: Ian J
authors: IJ
authors: Deary
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006262:Health; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011446:Prospective Studies; D006113:United Kingdom