{"title":"Impact of Optimism on Cognitive Performance of People Living in Rural Area: Findings From a 20-Year Study in US Adults.","authors":"Kallol Kumar Bhattacharyya, Victor Molinari","doi":"10.1177/23337214241239147","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><b>Objectives:</b> Mid- or early-late-life cognitive function is an indicator for developing late-life dementia. However, it is still unclear whether rural/urban living contexts provide cognitive benefits across adulthood. Further, higher optimism serves as a general protective factor for many health outcomes. The present study examines associations between rurality/urbanicity, optimism, and change in mid/late-life cognitive functions over time. <b>Methods:</b> Data were from waves 1 to 3 (1995-2015) of the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study (<i>N</i> = 2,507). Structural equation models examine whether long-term rural living across both waves (1-2) or intermittent rural living at one wave is associated with better cognitive function over 20 years, compared to no rural living, while controlling for prior cognitive function and covariates (baseline socio-demographics, health, and functional status). Additionally, we assessed if optimism mediates the above associations. <b>Results:</b> After controlling for covariates, long-term rural living (waves 1-2) was indirectly (through less optimism) associated with significantly lower levels of cognitive executive function and episodic memory in wave 3. <b>Conclusions:</b> While long-term rural living and cognitive outcomes have no direct association for MIDUS middle-aged and older adults, mediating roles of optimism in these associations were evident. Future investigations could examine mechanisms that underlie these risk/protective factors on late-life cognition.</p>","PeriodicalId":52146,"journal":{"name":"Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1000,"publicationDate":"2024-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10946068/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/23337214241239147","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/1/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"GERIATRICS & GERONTOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objectives: Mid- or early-late-life cognitive function is an indicator for developing late-life dementia. However, it is still unclear whether rural/urban living contexts provide cognitive benefits across adulthood. Further, higher optimism serves as a general protective factor for many health outcomes. The present study examines associations between rurality/urbanicity, optimism, and change in mid/late-life cognitive functions over time. Methods: Data were from waves 1 to 3 (1995-2015) of the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study (N = 2,507). Structural equation models examine whether long-term rural living across both waves (1-2) or intermittent rural living at one wave is associated with better cognitive function over 20 years, compared to no rural living, while controlling for prior cognitive function and covariates (baseline socio-demographics, health, and functional status). Additionally, we assessed if optimism mediates the above associations. Results: After controlling for covariates, long-term rural living (waves 1-2) was indirectly (through less optimism) associated with significantly lower levels of cognitive executive function and episodic memory in wave 3. Conclusions: While long-term rural living and cognitive outcomes have no direct association for MIDUS middle-aged and older adults, mediating roles of optimism in these associations were evident. Future investigations could examine mechanisms that underlie these risk/protective factors on late-life cognition.
期刊介绍:
Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine (GGM) is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed open access journal where scholars from a variety of disciplines present their work focusing on the psychological, behavioral, social, and biological aspects of aging, and public health services and research related to aging. The journal addresses a wide variety of topics related to health services research in gerontology and geriatrics. GGM seeks to be one of the world’s premier Open Access outlets for gerontological academic research. As such, GGM does not limit content due to page budgets or thematic significance. Papers will be subjected to rigorous peer review but will be selected solely on the basis of whether the research is sound and deserves publication. By virtue of not restricting papers to a narrow discipline, GGM facilitates the discovery of the connections between papers.