Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #109939

Christopher Rosnick, BA¹, Brent J. Small, PhD¹, Cathy McEvoy, PhD¹, Amy Borenstein, PhD², and James A. Mortimer, PhD². (1) Aging Studies, University of South Florida, 4202 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, FL 33620, 813-974-3237, crosnick@brandeis.edu, (2) Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of South Florida, 13201 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Tampa, FL 33612

The literature on the impact of stress on cognitive performance is somewhat inconsistent. The findings suggest a negative effect of chronic stress on cognitive performance but, on the other hand, acute stress has been suggested to have a protective effect on cognitive functioning. In the current study, we assessed the relationship between negative life events and cognitive functioning. Participants consisted of 430 elderly persons (age range = 60-85 years) taken from the Charlotte County Healthy Aging Study, a population-based sample of older adults. Cognitive performance was indexed by tests of episodic memory, perceptual speed, and attention. Negative life events were measured by the Louisville Older Persons Events Schedule (LOPES). We examined both the occurrence of the events and the perceived severity of the events and their relationship with cognitive performance. The results of regression analyses indicated that the aggregate frequency and severity measure were not associated with cognitive functioning. For the individual negative life events, the most robust findings were that reporting the injury or illness of a friend over the past year as having more of an impact on one's life was associated with better performance in all three domains and reporting having less money to live on over the last year as having more of an impact on one's life was associated with poorer performance in all three domains. Overall, the results support the idea that more acute stressors may be beneficial to cognitive performance, whereas more chronic events may have detrimental effects to cognitive functioning.

Learning Objectives:

• Assess how the occurrence and perceived severity of negative life events differentially affect cognitive performance.
• Identify specific negative life events that are associated with cognitive functioning.
• Discuss why certain negative life events affect cognitive performance while others show no association.

Keywords: Aging, Stress

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.