Year: 2022
Type: article
Abstract: Objectives The relationship between optimism and cognitive functioning is not fully understood. We examined the association of optimism with risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia in the Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study (WHIMS).Methods Optimism was measured by the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R) total score, and optimism and pessimism subscales. A panel of experts adjudicated cognitive endpoints based on annual cognitive assessments. We used cox proportional hazard regression models to examine the association of LOT-R total score and optimism and pessimism sub-scores with MCI/dementia. We also examined the relationship between vascular disease, LOT-R total score, optimism and pessimism, and cognition.Results Mean age was 70.5 (SD = 3.9) years. The sample (N = 7249) was 87% white, and 29.8% of participants had < 12 years of education. Total LOT-R score (HR = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.94, 0.98, p < 0.001) was associated with lower risk of combined MCI or dementia. More pessimism (HR = 1.08, 95% CI: 1.05, 1.11, p < 0.0001) was associated with higher risk of MCI or dementia after adjustment for ethnicity, education, vascular disease, and depression. No significant relationships emerged from the optimism subscale.Conclusion These data suggest that less pessimism, but not more optimism, was associated with a lower risk of MCI and dementia.
Source: Aging & Mental Health
Institutions: Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Wake Forest University, The Lundquist Institute, Harbor–UCLA Medical Center, University of Southern California, Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana University, University of California San Diego, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, University of Kentucky
Language: English
Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Ohio State University, University of Pittsburgh, MedStar Health Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, University at Buffalo, National Institute on Aging, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Cancer Institute
Awards: G1050918383, G1316632102, G1471908156, Epigenetic Aging Biomarkers of Mild Cognitive Impairment, Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias, and Brain Aging, G1851278524, G1947136479, G219693323, G2209176514, G2577248455, G2904256192, G3040066298, G3062349281, G3069585042, G3188439488, G3439557519, G3643850837, G3796112702, G3900787601, G4186766937, G420079388, G433713863, G4546180501, VANGUARD CENTER FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH INITIATIVE, G4940192625, SPRINT MIND 2020, Cocoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study in the Mind (COSMOS-Mind), G572661963, G5877011051, G5988878704, G6305370735, G6370066500, G6408538425, G6694253514, G700120080, G7223985928, G7332203415, G757750085, Wake Forest NCORP Research Base, G8606882599, G8628512897, Plasma Proteomic Signatures for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias, G8994191585, G9000013408, G9000030722, G9000100756, G9000343153, PRagmatic EValuation of evENTs And Benefits of Lipid-lowering in oldEr Adults (PREVENTABLE), G915959914, Alzheimer's Disease & Related Dementias: Geography, Environments, and Mechanisms
OpenAlex ID: W4282940272