title: Leisure Activities and Change in Cognitive Stability: A Multivariate Approach.
abstract: Aging is traditionally associated with cognitive decline, attested by slower reaction times and poorer performance in various cognitive tasks, but also by an increase in intraindividual variability (IIV) in cognitive performance. Results concerning how lifestyle activities protect from cognitive decline are mixed in the literature and all focused on how it affects mean performance. However, IIV has been proven to be an index more sensitive to age differences, and very little is known about the relationships between lifestyle activities and change in IIV in aging. This longitudinal study explores the association between frequency of physical, social, intellectual, artistic, or cultural activities and age-related change in various cognitive abilities, considering both mean performance and IIV. Ninety-six participants, aged 64-93 years, underwent a battery of cognitive tasks at four measurements over a seven-year period, and filled out a lifestyle activity questionnaire. Linear multilevel models were used to analyze the associations between change in cognitive performance and five types of activities. Results showed that the practice of leisure activities was more strongly associated with IIV than with mean performance, both when considering overall level and change in performance. Relationships with IIV were dependent of the cognitive tasks considered and overall results showed protective effects of cultural, physical and intellectual activities on IIV. These results underline the need for considering IIV in the study of age-related cognitive change.
authors.affiliation: Cognitive aging lab, FPSE, University of Geneva, Geneva 1211, Switzerland. Nathalie.Mella-Barraco@unige.ch.|Group of Developmental and Differential Psychology, FPSE, University of Geneva, Geneva 1211, Switzerland. Nathalie.Mella-Barraco@unige.ch.
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mella
authors.affiliation: Methodology and Data Analysis Unit, FPSE, University of Geneva, Geneva 1211, Switzerland. Emmanuelle.Grob@unige.ch.|Swiss Distance Learning University, Brig 3900, Switzerland. Emmanuelle.Grob@unige.ch.
authors.forename: Emmanuelle
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Grob
authors.affiliation: Cognitive aging lab, FPSE, University of Geneva, Geneva 1211, Switzerland. salome.doll@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Salomé
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Döll
authors.affiliation: Methodology and Data Analysis Unit, FPSE, University of Geneva, Geneva 1211, Switzerland. Paolo.Ghisletta@unige.ch.|Swiss Distance Learning University, Brig 3900, Switzerland. Paolo.Ghisletta@unige.ch.|LIVES-Overcoming vulnerability: Life course perspectives, University of Geneva, Geneva 1211, Switzerland. Paolo.Ghisletta@unige.ch.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ghisletta
authors.affiliation: Group of Developmental and Differential Psychology, FPSE, University of Geneva, Geneva 1211, Switzerland. Anik.deRibaupierre@unige.ch.|LIVES-Overcoming vulnerability: Life course perspectives, University of Geneva, Geneva 1211, Switzerland. Anik.deRibaupierre@unige.ch.
authors.forename: Anik
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Ribaupierre
keywords: cognitive aging; intraindividual variability; leisure activities; longitudinal study