Positively worded subscale score of the Perceived Stress Scale is associated with cognitive domain function.

Objectives: To examine the cross-sectional associations of the separate subscales of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and tests measuring cognitive domains in older adults.

Methods: 897 adults over the age of 70 free of amnestic mild cognitive impairment and dementia and enrolled in the Einstein Aging Study made up the study sample. The PSS-14 was used to measure stress. Three cognitive domains (language, episodic memory, and frontal-executive) had previously been found using principle component analysis. Linear regression analyses were used to determine the relationship between the PSS subscales and cognitive domain function.

Results: The study sample had a mean age of 79.1 years and 62.8% were female. Bivariate correlations show that the PSS-14 positively worded subscale of the PSS (PSS-PW) was significantly associated with all three cognitive domains (language: r = -0.15, p < 0.001; episodic memory: r = -0.16, p < 0.001; frontal-executive: r = -0.21, p <0.001) while the negatively worded subscale of the PSS (PSS-NW) was not significantly associated with any cognitive domain. In linear regression analyses adjusted for age, white race, gender, years of education, and depressive symptoms, the PSS-PW remained significantly associated with each of the cognitive domains. The PSS-NW was not associated with any cognitive domains in any model. The PSS-14 was significantly associated with language and episodic memory, but not the frontal-executive domain.

Conclusion: Worse PSS-PW scores are associated with reduced cognitive function in the executive, memory, and language domains in nondemented older adults. The PSS-PW subscale correlated better with cognitive function than the overall PSS-14. Future research should evaluate the temporality of the association and if stress reduction therapies improve cognitive performance.