ArticleArchives of gerontology and geriatrics
Meaning in life and risk of cognitive impairment: A 9-Year prospective study in 14 countries.
Article in Archives of gerontology and geriatrics. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effects of physical and psychological multimorbidity on the risk of dementia: multinational prospective cohorts and a meta-analysis.BMC medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Sense of meaning and purpose in life and risk of incident dementia: New data and meta-analysis.Archives of gerontology and geriatrics · 2023Pooled it
- Sense of purpose in life and concurrent loneliness and risk of incident loneliness: An individual-participant meta-analysis of 135,227 individuals from 36 cohorts.Journal of affective disorders · 2022Pooled it
- The association between purpose/meaning in life and verbal fluency and episodic memory: a meta-analysis of >140,000 participants from up to 32 countries.International psychogeriatrics · 2022Pooled it
- Sense of Purpose in Life Is Associated with Lower Risk of Incident Dementia: A Meta-Analysis.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2021Pooled it
- Evaluation of a meaning in life intervention applied to work: A randomized clinical trial.Applied psychology. Health and well-being · 2025Trial
- Meaning in life and Parkinson's disease: Evidence from a 17-year study across 14 countries.Archives of gerontology and geriatrics · 2026Article
- Article
- Maintaining cognitive and physical health across the adult lifespan: the contribution of psychosocial factors.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2025Article
- Bidirectional Relationships Between Well-Being and Cognitive Function.Psychological science · 2025Article
- Evaluating the rational use of antidepressant in older patients: a comprehensive analysis of its association with cognitive impairment.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- The role of meaning in life in the association between loneliness and depression: a mediation study among older adults from 26 European countries.The Psychiatric quarterly · 2024Article
- Mental health and meaning in life in Chinese military personnel: a cross-lagged analysis.BMC psychology · 2024Article
- Well-Being as a Protective Factor Against Cognitive Decline and Dementia: A Review of the Literature and Directions for Future Research.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2023Review
- Article
- The longitudinal relationship between meaning in life, depressive symptoms, life satisfaction, and cognitive functioning for older adults with Alzheimer's disease.European journal of ageing · 2022Article
- Relationship of Purpose in Life to Dementia in Older Black and White Brazilians.Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society : JINS · 2022Article
- 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
- Predicting Uptake of the COVID Coach App Among US Military Veterans: Funnel Analysis Using a Probability-Based Panel.JMIR mental health · 2022Article
- Role of Libraries in Human Flourishing: Adolescents' Motivational Orientation for Occupation.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundA meaningful and purpose-driven life is associated with better health outcomes. We test whether meaning in life is associated with risk of cognitive impairment using data from a large, multi-national study.
methodsParticipants (N = 22,514) were from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Participants from 14 countries reported on their meaning in life. Cognitive impairment was derived from performance on cognitive tasks administered at baseline and at up to three follow-up waves (waves 2-6 assessed between 2010-2015).
resultsLack of meaning in life was associated with a more than 20 % increased risk of incident cognitive impairment over the up to 9-year follow-up (Hazard Ratio = 1.24; 95 % Confidence Interval = 1.17-1.31). Further, compared to participants who reported often feeling meaning in life, participants who reported never feeling meaning in life were at an approximately 75 % increased risk of impairment (Hazard Ratio = 1.75, 95 % Confidence Interval = 1.19-2.57). The association between meaning in life and risk of cognitive impairment was apparent across four regions of Europe (Northern, Southern, Eastern, Western) and in Israel and was not moderated by sociodemographic characteristics.
conclusionsReporting lower meaning in one's life is associated with risk of incident cognitive impairment. Meaning may be a potential target of intervention for healthier cognitive aging.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.