ArticleJournal of affective disorders2020
Purpose in life is a robust protective factor of reported cognitive decline among late middle-aged adults: The Emory Healthy Aging Study.
Article in Journal of affective disorders, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 39 citations in OpenAlex.
- Loneliness, Depression, and Subjective Memory Complaints in Middle-Aged and Older Adults: The Role of Meaning in Life.Psychiatry investigation · 2026Article
- Purpose and Meaning in Life in Older Age: A Correlational Meta-Analysis.Research square · 2026Article
- Maintaining cognitive and physical health across the adult lifespan: the contribution of psychosocial factors.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2025Article
- Life Purpose Lowers Risk for Cognitive Impairment in a United States Population-Based Cohort.The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry · 2025Article
- Sustained Purpose in Life is Associated With Slower Cognitive Decline in Older Adults: A Longitudinal Analysis With a Diverse National Sample.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2025Article
- A review of the literature on wellbeing and modifiable dementia risk factors.Ageing research reviews · 2024Review
- Purpose in life and cognitive performance and informant ratings of cognitive decline, affect, and activities.Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society : JINS · 2024Article
- Higher purpose in life and education were associated with better cognition among older adults.Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria · 2024Article
- Psychosocial factors associated with 7-year change in cognition among middle-aged and older Hispanics/Latinos: The Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos-Investigation of Neurocognitive Aging (SOL-INCA) and Sociocultural ancillary studies.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2024Article
- Important Correlates of Purpose in Life in a Diverse Population-Based Cohort: A Machine Learning Approach.The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry · 2023Article
- Meaning in challenging times: Sense of meaning supports wellbeing despite pandemic stresses.SSM. Mental health · 2023Article
- Biopsychosocial Factors That Influence the Purpose in Life among Working Adults and Retirees.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Well-Being and Cognitive Resilience to Dementia-Related Neuropathology.Psychological science · 2023Article
- Associations Among Loneliness, Purpose in Life and Subjective Cognitive Decline in Ethnoracially Diverse Older Adults Living in the United States.Journal of applied gerontology : the official journal of the Southern Gerontological Society · 2023Article
- Sense of Purpose in Life and Subjective Cognitive Failures.Personality and individual differences · 2023Article
- Addressing Psychosocial Factors in Cognitive Impairment Screening from a Holistic Perspective: The DeCo-Booklet Methodology Design and Pilot Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Neighborhood characteristics as confounders and effect modifiers for the association between air pollution exposure and subjective cognitive functioning.Environmental research · 2022Article
- Article
- Psychosocial Factors Associated with Cognitive Function Among Middle-Aged and Older Hispanics/Latinos: The Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos and its Sociocultural Ancillary Study.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2021Article
- PTSD and Depressive Symptoms as Potential Mediators of the Association between World Trade Center Exposure and Subjective Cognitive Concerns in Rescue/Recovery Workers.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundCognitive abilities tend to decline in advanced age. A novel protective factor of cognitive decline in advanced age is purpose-in-life (PiL), a trait-like tendency to derive life meanings and purpose. However, whether PiL protects against cognitive decline in late-middle-age is unclear. Hence, we examined the association between PiL and perceived cognitive decline, one of the earliest detectable cognitive symptoms before the onset of cognitive impairment. Furthermore, we used a machine learning approach to investigate whether PiL is a robust predictor of cognitive decline when considered with the known protective and risk factors for cognition.
methodsPiL was assessed with a 10-item questionnaire and perceived cognitive decline with the Cognitive Function Instrument among 5,441 Emory Healthy Aging Study participants, whose mean age was 63 and 51% were employed. Association between PiL and perceived cognitive decline was examined with linear regression adjusting for relevant confounding factors. Elastic Net was performed to identify the most robust predictors of cognitive decline.
resultsGreater PiL was associated with less perceived cognitive decline after adjusting for the relevant factors. Furthermore, Elastic Net modeling suggested that PiL is a robust predictor of cognitive decline when considered simultaneously with known protective (education, exercise, enrichment activities) and risk factors for cognition (depression, anxiety, diagnosed medical, mental health problems, smoking, alcohol use, family history of dementia, and others). LIMITATION: This is a cross-sectional study.
conclusionsPiL is a robust protective factor of perceived cognitive decline observed as early as middle age. Thus, interventions to enhance PiL merit further investigation.
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