Longitudinal Associations Between Psychological Resilience and Cognitive Function:Evidence from the U.S. Health and Retirement Study

Chenguang Du; Benjamin Katz; Mengting Li; Francesca Maria Pernice; Kali Rickertsen; Fei Gu; Kazuki Hori; Xiaobin Ding; Hanzhang Xu

doi:10.1093/geronb/gbae197

Longitudinal Associations Between Psychological Resilience and Cognitive Function:Evidence from the U.S. Health and Retirement Study

J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2024 Dec 13:gbae197. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbae197. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Chenguang Du¹, Benjamin Katz², Mengting Li³, Francesca Maria Pernice⁴, Kali Rickertsen⁴, Fei Gu⁵, Kazuki Hori⁶, Xiaobin Ding¹, Hanzhang Xu⁷

Affiliations

¹ School of Psychology, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, China.
² Department of Human Development and Family Science, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA.
³ Department of Social Security, School of Labor and Human Resources, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China.
⁴ Department of Theoretical and Behavioral Foundations, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA.
⁵ Faculty of Psychology, Chulalongkorn University Bangkok, Thailand.
⁶ Center for General Education, Faculty of Administrative Studies, Prefectural University of Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan.
⁷ Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Duke University School of Medicine, Duke University School of Nursing, Durham, North Carolina, USA.

PMID: 39670873
DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbae197

Abstract

Objective: Reductions in psychological resilience and declining cognition are common among older adults. Understanding the longitudinal association between them could be beneficial for interventions that focus on age-related cognitive and psychological health. In this study, we evaluated the longitudinal associations between cognition and psychological resilience over time in a nationally representative sample of US older adults.

Method: A total of 9,075 respondents aged 65 and above from 2006-2020 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) were included in the current study. Cognition was measured through a modified 35-point Telephone Interview Cognitive Screen (TICS), and psychological resilience in the HRS was calculated using a previously established simplified resilience score. Bivariate latent growth modeling was used to examine the parallel association between psychological resilience and cognitive function over a period of up to 12 years.

Results: Positive correlations existed between the intercepts (r=0.20, SE=0.07, p<.001) as well as the slopes (r=0.36, SE=0.03, p<.001) for psychological resilience and cognition. The initial level of cognition positively predicted the slope of psychological resilience (β=0.16, SE=0.01, p<0.001), whereas a somewhat less robust effect was found for the slope of cognition and the initial level of psychological resilience (β=0.10, SE=0.03, p<0.001), after controlling all other covariates.

Discussion: In a population-based sample of US older adults, cognition and psychological resilience could mutually reinforce one another. Clinicians and policy makers may consider recommending tasks associated with improving cognitive function for interventions to bolster psychological resilience among older adults.

Keywords: Bivariate Latent Growth Model; Cognition; Healthy Aging; Selective Optimization with Compensation Model.

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