Neuroticism, conscientiousness, and in vivo Alzheimer pathologies measured by amyloid PET and MRI.

AIM: It has been suggested that personality traits, particularly neuroticism and conscientiousness, are risk factors for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related cognitive decline. However, the underlying pathological links between personality traits and AD-related cognitive impairments remain unclear. Thus, the present study investigated associations of neuroticism and conscientiousness with in vivo cerebral amyloid-beta (Aß) burden, AD-signature regional neurodegeneration, and white matter hyperintensities (WMH) in non-demented middle- and old-aged adults. METHODS: A total of 397 non-demented participants underwent comprehensive clinical and neuropsychological assessments, 11 C-labeled Pittsburgh Compound B positron emission tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging. Additionally, the NEO Five-Factor Inventory was administered to both the participants and their informants to measure neuroticism and conscientiousness. RESULTS: Neither neuroticism nor conscientiousness was associated with cerebral Aß deposition or WMH. In contrast, higher neuroticism and lower conscientiousness, reported by informants in particular, were significantly associated with reduced AD-signature region cortical thickness. In regards to the direct and indirect effect of each personality on AD-signature region cortical thickness, only the direct effects were found, whereas indirect effects via Aß deposition or WMH were not. CONCLUSION: The present findings suggest that amyloid-independent regional neurodegeneration might underlie relations of neuroticism and conscientiousness with AD.

Validity and Reliability of the Korean Version of the Work-Family Behavioral Role Conflict Scale (WFBRC-S).

This study aimed to examine the validity and reliability of the Korean version of the Work-Family Behavioral Role Conflict Scale (WFBRC-S), which was originally developed to measure work-family behavioral role conflict in American adults with a wide variety of occupations such as nurses and chief executive officers. This study used a methodological research design. The study population consisted of 235 married men and women aged 20 years or older who were living in various cities, who had been employed for three years or more. The validity of the content, construct, convergent, discriminant, and criterion related, as well as the reliability of the WFBRC-S-K, was assessed. The WFBRC-S Korean version consists of 25 items. It was found that through the validity of the composition and standards of WFBRC-S-K, it was possible to measure the conflict by focusing on behavior so that a comprehensive evaluation of the role conflict between family and work, and work and family, can be performed. Five items in the WFBRC-S-K were excluded with a standardized factor loading of less than 0.50. We applied the modified index to improve the model fit to build a model, it supports a good fit and reliable score for the Korean version of the WFBRC-S model. Analysis of the fit of the revised model Nomed χ2 (CIMIN/df) value of less was: fit indices to 2.05 RMSEA = 0.07, RMR = 0.04, SRMR = 0.06, GFI = 0.85, IFI = 0.91, TLI = 0.90, CFI = 0.91. Criterion validity compared to the WLBOC-S showed significant correlation, and Cronbach's alpha was 0.94. Factor loadings of the 25 questions ranged from 0.49 to 0.81. The study findings confirmed the applicability of this scale for measuring the work-family behavioral role conflict in Korean adults with a wide variety of occupations. The WFBRC-S-K can be applied on the measurement of work-family conflict in nursing and other industrial sites. These results provide a foundation for future studies on work-family behavioral role conflict in Korean adult.

Multiparity, Brain Atrophy, and Cognitive Decline.

BACKGROUND: Multiparity - grand multiparity (i.e., five or more childbirths) in particular - has been reported to have an association with increased risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia or related cognitive decline in women. However, the pathological links underlying this relationship are still unknown. This study was conducted to examine the relationships of multiparity with cerebral amyloid-beta (Aß) deposition, brain atrophy, and white matter hyperintensities (WMHs). METHODS: In this study, total of 237 older women with 148 cognitively normal and 89 mild cognitive impairment from the Korean Brain Aging Study for Early Diagnosis and Prediction of Alzheimer's Disease (KBASE) were included. Participants underwent clinical and neuropsychological assessments in addition to 11C-labeled Pittsburgh Compound B positron emission tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging. The associations of parity with Aß deposition, hippocampal volume, cortical volume, WMH volume and mini-mental status examination (MMSE) score were examined. RESULTS: Participants with grand multiparity showed significantly reduced adjusted hippocampal volume, spatial pattern of atrophy for recognition of AD volume and spatial pattern of atrophy for recognition of brain aging volume even after controlling for potential confounders. Furthermore, MMSE score was also significantly lower in this group. In contrast, grand multiparity did not show any association with global Aß retention, Aß positivity rate, or WMH volume, regardless of covariates. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that grand multiparity contributes to cognitive decline or increased dementia risk in older women by aggravating amyloid-independent hippocampal or cortical atrophy.