Purpose in life and stress: An individual-participant meta-analysis of 16 samples.

Background: Purpose in life is a psychological resource that has been associated with better regulation of stress. The present research reports a coordinated analysis of the association between purpose in life and subjective stress and evaluates potential sociodemographic and mental health moderators of this association. Methods: With individual participant data from 16 samples (total N=108,391), linear regression examined the association between purpose in life and general subjective feelings of stress, controlling for sociodemographic characteristics. Results: Greater purpose in life was associated with less subjective stress (meta-analytic estimate=-.228, 95% Confidence Interval=-.292, -.164; p<.001). Interaction terms between sociodemographic factors and purpose tested in the individual samples and synthesized with meta-analysis were not significant, which indicated that the association between purpose and stress was similar across age, sex, race, ethnicity, and education. The association was also not moderated by psychological distress. Meta-regressions further indicated that this association was generally similar across scale length, content of the purpose measure, and across samples from Eastern and Western countries. Limitations: The associations reported are observational. Experimental work is needed to evaluate causality. Conclusions: Purpose in life is associated with less subjective stress across populations. Less subjective stress may be one mechanism through which purpose contributes to better mental and physical health.

The Association between Happiness and Cognitive Function in the UK Biobank.

Feelings of happiness have been associated with better performance in creative and flexible thinking and processing. Less is known about whether happier individuals have better performance on basic cognitive functions and slower rate of cognitive decline. In a large sample from the UK Biobank (N=17,885; Age 40-70 years), we examine the association between baseline happiness and cognitive function (speed of processing, visuospatial memory, reasoning) over four assessment waves spanning up to 10 years of follow-up. Greater happiness was associated with better speed and visuospatial memory performance across assessments independent of vascular or depression risk factors. Happiness was associated with worse reasoning. No association was found between happiness and the rate of change over time on any of the cognitive tasks. The cognitive benefits of happiness may extend to cognitive functions such as speed and memory but not more complex processes such as reasoning, and happiness may not be predictive of the rate of cognitive decline over time. More evidence on the association between psychological well-being and different cognitive functions is needed to shed light on potential interventional efforts.

Self-Acceptance and Purpose in Life Are Mechanisms Linking Adverse Childhood Experiences to Mortality Risk.

OBJECTIVE: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with an increased risk of premature mortality, but it is not clear why. Individuals with ACEs tend to have lower self-acceptance and purpose in life, which may be pathways between ACEs and risk of premature mortality. As such, we tested whether purpose and self-acceptance are mechanisms that link ACEs to mortality risk. METHODS: We used the Midlife in the United States Survey ( N = 6218; mean [standard deviation] = 46.89 [12.94] years) to test whether these factors were indirect pathways between ACEs and mortality hazards over 24 years of follow-up. We used a comprehensive ACE measure that included 20 possible childhood adversities including emotional and physical abuse, household instability, socioeconomic climate, and ill health. RESULTS: ACEs significantly increased mortality risk (hazard ratio = 1.028, 95% confidence interval = 1.008-1.047, p = .006). Self-acceptance and purpose accounted for an estimated 15% and 4% of the ACEs-mortality relation, respectively. These effects withstood a range of adjustments and sensitivity analyses. CONCLUSIONS: ACEs may affect mortality risk partially through lower self-acceptance and purpose during adulthood. Given that self-acceptance and purpose may change through intervention, these factors may be useful targets for individuals with ACEs that could lead to a longer life.

Multidimensional Assessment of Subjective Well-Being and Risk of Dementia: Findings from the UK Biobank Study.

This study aimed to examine the associations between subjective well-being (SWB) and risk of all-cause dementia, Alzheimer's disease (AD), and vascular dementia (VD). We adopted a multidimensional approach to SWB that included the level and breadth of SWB, the latter indicating the extent to which SWB spreads across life domains. Participants (N=171,197; mean age=56.78; SD=8.16 years) were part of the UK Biobank and were followed up to 8.78 years. Domain-general and domain-specific SWB were measured by single items, and the breadth of SWB was indexed with a cumulative score of satisfaction across domains. Dementia incidence was ascertained through hospital and death records. Cox regression was used to examine the association between SWB indicators and risk of all-cause dementia, AD, and VD. General happiness, health and family satisfaction, and satisfaction breadth (satisfaction in multiple domains) were associated with lower risk of all-cause dementia. The associations held after accounting for socio-demographics, health, behavioral, and economic covariates, and depressive symptoms. Health satisfaction and the breadth of satisfaction were also associated with lower risk of AD and VD, with a pattern of slightly stronger associations for VD compared to AD. Some life domains (e.g., health) may be more fruitfully targeted to promote well-being and help protect against dementia, but it is also important to enhance well-being across multiple domains to maximize the protective effects.

Purpose in life, stress mindset, and perceived stress: Test of a mediational model.

Purpose in life is associated with less perceived stress and more positive worldviews. This study examined whether people with more purpose adopt a mindset that views stress as beneficial rather than harmful and whether this mindset is one mechanism between purpose and less stress. We used a short-term longitudinal study (N=2,147) to test stress mindset as a mediator between purpose in life measured prior to the pandemic and stress measured early in the pandemic. We also tested Covid-related worry as a mechanism, given the measurement period spanned pre-pandemic to the first shutdowns in the United States. In contrast to expectations, purpose was unrelated to whether stress was conceptualized as beneficial or harmful (b=.00, SE=.02; p=.710) and thus stress mindset did not mediate the prospective association between purpose and stress. Both purpose in life (b=-.41, SE=.04, p<.001) and stress mindset (b=-.24, SE=.04; p<.001) were independent prospective predictors of stress. Purpose was related to less Covid-related worry, which was a significant mechanism between purpose and stress (indirect effect=-.03, SE=.01; p=.023). A stress-is-enhancing mindset predicted less stress but did not explain why purpose was associated with less perceived stress, whereas fewer Covid-related worries was one pathway from purpose to less stress.

Five-Factor Model Personality Domains and Facets Associated with Markers of Cognitive Health.

Using a diverse, age-stratified sample (N=3,478; age range 18-90) this study examines the cross-sectional association between five-factor model personality traits - domains and facets - and three measures of cognitive health - processing speed, visuospatial ability, subjective memory - and whether these associations vary by age, race, and ethnicity. Consistent with the literature on personality and cognitive health, higher openness and conscientiousness were associated with better cognitive performance and subjective memory, whereas higher neuroticism was associated with slower processing speed and worse subjective memory but was unrelated to visuospatial ability. Moderation analyses suggested some associations were stronger in midlife compared to younger and older adulthood but were generally similar across race and ethnicity. The facet-level analyses indicated the components of each domain most strongly associated with cognitive function (e.g., the responsibility facet of conscientiousness) and suggested some differences across facets within the same domain (e.g., depression was associated with worse performance, whereas anxiety was unrelated to performance; sociability was the only facet of extraversion associated with worse performance). The present research is consistent with the larger literature on personality and cognition and extends it by documenting similarities and differences across facets and demographic groups.

Sense of Purpose in Life and Beliefs and Knowledge of Alzheimer's Disease.

OBJECTIVE: A sense of purpose in life is associated with healthier cognitive outcomes, including lower risk of Alzheimer's Disease (ad). The present research examines whether purpose is also associated with beliefs and knowledge of ad. METHOD: A random subsample (N = 1,187) of community-dwelling participants from the Health and Retirement Study completed a module on self-reported beliefs and knowledge of ad. RESULTS: Purpose in life was associated with lower perceived threat of ad and greater belief that modifiable factors (e.g., physical activity) decrease risk. Associations were not moderated by experience with ad or depressive symptoms. Purpose was unrelated to beliefs that genetics or stress increase risk or knowledge of ad. CONCLUSIONS: Individuals with a sense of purpose are less concerned about risk of developing ad and believe modifiable factors reduce risk. These beliefs may support engagement in behaviors that reduce risk and be one psychological pathway through which purpose protects against ad.

Sense of meaning and purpose in life and risk of incident dementia: New data and meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: A greater sense of meaning and purpose in life is associated with lower dementia risk. The present research examines meaning and incident dementia in the largest sample to date, the UK Biobank, and combines the findings with the published literature on meaning/purpose and dementia risk in a meta-analysis. METHOD: Participants from the UK Biobank reported on their meaning in life in the 2016/2017 mental health assessment (N=153,445). All-cause and cause-specific dementia were derived from hospital and death records through November 2021. Cox regression was used to test the association between meaning in life and risk of incident dementia. Results from the UK Biobank were combined with published studies identified through a systematic literature review in a random-effect meta-analysis (k=8; total N=214,270). RESULTS: UK Biobank participants were followed up to five years after their assessment of meaning in life; 551 participants developed dementia. For every one-point higher feeling of meaning, there was a 35% decreased risk of all-cause dementia (HR=.74, 95% CI=.67-.82, p<.001). The association was similar controlling for clinical and behavioral risk factors and was not moderated by age, sex, education, or APOE risk status. Similar associations were found for Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. The meta-analysis supported the protective association between meaning/purpose and lower dementia risk (HR=.76, 95% CI=.72-.79, p<.001). CONCLUSIONS: The present research supports the growing literature that meaning and purpose in life have a robust association with lower risk of developing dementia. Meaning/purpose is a promising intervention target for healthier cognitive outcomes in older adulthood.

Differential personality change earlier and later in the coronavirus pandemic in a longitudinal sample of adults in the United States.

Five-factor model personality traits (neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness) are thought to be relatively impervious to environmental demands in adulthood. The coronavirus pandemic is an unprecedented opportunity to examine whether personality changed during a stressful global event. Surprisingly, two previous studies found that neuroticism decreased early in the pandemic, whereas there was less evidence for change in the other four traits during this period. The present research used longitudinal assessments of personality from the Understanding America Study (N = 7,109; 18,623 assessments) to examine personality changes relatively earlier (2020) and later (2021-2022) in the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic levels. Replicating the two previous studies, neuroticism declined very slightly in 2020 compared to pre-pandemic levels; there were no changes in the other four traits. When personality was measured in 2021-2022, however, there was no significant change in neuroticism compared to pre-pandemic levels, but there were significant small declines in extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. The changes were about one-tenth of a standard deviation, which is equivalent to about one decade of normative personality change. These changes were moderated by age and Hispanic/Latino ethnicity, but not race or education. Strikingly, younger adults showed disrupted maturity in that they increased in neuroticism and declined in agreeableness and conscientiousness. Current evidence suggests the slight decrease in neuroticism early in the pandemic was short-lived and detrimental changes in the other traits emerged over time. If these changes are enduring, this evidence suggests population-wide stressful events can slightly bend the trajectory of personality, especially in younger adults.

Subjective Cognitive Decline: Is a Resilient Personality Protective Against Progression to Objective Cognitive Impairment? Findings from Two Community-Based Cohort Studies.

BACKGROUND: Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) is related to personality functioning and risk of subsequent objective cognitive impairment. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine whether lower neuroticism and higher conscientiousness-resilient personality traits-protect against conversion from SCD to objective cognitive impairment in two longitudinal community-based cohorts. METHODS: Data from the Health and Retirement Study (N = 1,741, Mean age = 68.64 years, Follow-up mean = 7.34 years) and the National Health and Aging Trends Survey (N = 258, Mean age = 79.34 years, Follow-up mean = 4.31 years) were analyzed using Cox regression analysis, controlling for sociodemographic covariates, symptoms of anxiety and depression, and apolipoprotein ɛ4. RESULTS: The pooled results showed that lower neuroticism and higher conscientiousness were associated with decreased risk of conversion from SCD to objective cognitive impairment. CONCLUSION: Among individuals with SCD, those with a resilient personality may have more cognitive and psychological reserve to maintain cognitive functioning and delay conversion to objective cognitive impairment. The findings further contribute to a better understanding of personality along the cognitive continuum: The observed effect sizes were smaller than those reported in cognitively normal individuals but larger than in individuals with mild cognitive impairment. Personality could provide useful information to identify individuals with SCD who may develop objective cognitive impairment-namely those who hold a vulnerable personality (higher neuroticism, lower conscientiousness).

Socioeconomic status, internalizing and externalizing behaviors, and executive function in adolescence: A longitudinal study with multiple informants.

This study examines whether behavior problems reported by the self and others are associated prospectively with executive function in adolescence and whether these behaviors mediate the association between family and neighborhood socioeconomic status and executive function. Participants (N = 4,164) from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) reported their behaviors at ages 10-11; mothers, fathers, and teachers also rated participants' behaviors. Four years later, participants completed an executive function battery that measured attention, working memory, and error monitoring. As rated by the self, mother, father, and teacher, hyperactivity and emotional symptoms had the most consistent associations with worse performance on the executive function tasks. The associations were generally similar across the four reporters. Hyperactivity mediated the association between family SES in childhood and adolescent executive function. None of the behaviors mediated the association between neighborhood SES and executive function. The present research suggests that behavior problems prospectively predict executive function in adolescence and may be one mechanism of the relation between family SES and executive function.

Perceived changes in social contact during COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

The COVID-19 pandemic and its restrictions have led to a shift in how people connect with others. This study investigated (a) profiles of social contact change across social ties and modes of contact, (b) predictors of these profiles, and (c) the association between these profiles and mental health during the pandemic. Participants (N = 2,098; Age mean = 50.94, range = 18-98; 48.3% female) were surveyed online twice, once prior to the pandemic (January 31-February 10, 2020) and again early in the outbreak (March 18-29, 2020). A latent profile analysis identified profiles of social contact change across social ties and communication methods. Additional analyses identified predictors of group membership and their association with mental health. Three latent groups were identified: (1) the "majority group" (77%) slightly restricted in-person contact and had a small increase in phone and text use, (2) the "high technology use group" (13%) restricted in-person contact and increased the use of all technology-based methods, and (3) the "isolated group" (10%) decreased in both in-person and technology-based contact. Compared to the majority group, the high technology use group reported higher depression and anxiety, whereas the isolated group reported higher loneliness. There were three distinct profiles of how adults in the United States changed their communication patterns with others early in the pandemic that were linked to distinct patterns of mental health. The results have implications for the development and the delivery of mental health treatment in times of social (physical) distancing.

Satisfaction With Life and Risk of Dementia: Findings From the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging.

OBJECTIVES: Life satisfaction is increasingly viewed as an asset associated with better general health, but its association with cognitive health and risk of dementia is less examined. We tested the hypothesis that higher life satisfaction would be associated with lower risk of dementia. METHODS: Participants were a nationally representative sample of adults (n = 8,021; age range: 45-93 years) from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging assessed every 2 years for up to 12 years. Multilevel modeling analysis examined whether life satisfaction is associated with cognitive functioning and decline. The primary analysis used Cox regression to examine the association between baseline life satisfaction and risk of incident dementia. RESULTS: Between-person differences and within-person changes in life satisfaction were associated with cognitive functioning, but life satisfaction was unrelated to the rate of cognitive decline. Higher life satisfaction was also associated with lower risk of dementia, even after accounting for demographic factors, depressive symptoms, cardiovascular and functional risk factors, health behaviors, and social contact. DISCUSSION: Satisfaction with life may function as a positive psychological resource for maintaining cognitive functioning and protecting against the risk of dementia.

Sense of purpose in life and concurrent loneliness and risk of incident loneliness: An individual-participant meta-analysis of 135,227 individuals from 36 cohorts.

BACKGROUND: Sense of purpose, the feeling that one's life is goal-oriented and driven, tends to be protective for psychological health. Less is known about its relation with social health, particularly loneliness. We test whether the cross-sectional association between purpose and loneliness is replicable and whether purpose protects against the development of incident loneliness over time. METHODS: Participants from 36 cohorts (total N = 135,227; age range 18-109) reported on their sense of purpose, loneliness, and psychological distress. Follow-up measures of loneliness were available in 28 cohorts that ranged from six weeks to 15 years. Prospective, random-effect meta-analysis was used to summarize the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations from each cohort. RESULTS: Sense of purpose was associated significantly with less loneliness in all 36 cohorts, controlling for sociodemographic factors (meta-analytic mean effect estimate = -0.31, 95% CI = -0.34, -0.29, p < .001). This association was stronger among participants experiencing concurrent severe psychological distress. Sense of purpose was protective against the development of new incident loneliness (meta-analytic mean hazard ratio estimate = 0.85, 95% CI = 0.82, 0.87, p < .001). Age did not moderate any of the associations. LIMITATIONS: Limitations include the lack of lower-income countries. The mechanisms that explain this association also need to be identified in future research. CONCLUSIONS: Sense of purpose is associated with less loneliness and with protection against developing loneliness over time, associations that replicated across cohorts from North America, South America, Europe, and the Middle East. Sense of purpose may be a useful target of intervention to prevent or reduce loneliness, especially among individuals suffering from psychological distress.

Personality and change in perceived control during the acute stage of the coronavirus pandemic.

Lower perceived control (PC) is related to maladaptive psychological responses to stressful events, yet it is unclear whether longer-term situations are associated with PC change over time. This study examined PC change during the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic and whether trajectories varied by age and personality. Personality was assessed in 2455 U.S. adults (18-100 years) from an online study conducted January-February 2020. PC was assessed across three follow-ups (March-July 2020). Latent growth curves modeled PC change. In controlled models, PC decreased (ß = -0.107, p = .005). Older adults had higher PC than younger adults (ß = 0.012, p = .001), and experienced less PC decline (ß = 0.012, p < .001). All personality traits but Openness were related to PC at baseline (ßs ranged from -0.912 to 0.543, ps < .001). Conscientiousness (ß = 0.155, p = .002), Extraversion (ß = 0.128, p = .008), and Agreeableness (ß = 0.099, p = .044) were associated with less PC decline. Employment (ß = 0.160, p = .022), health (ß = 0.133, p = .002), and disease burden (ß = -0.056, p = .014) were also associated with PC change. These results were largely driven by the financial dimension of PC. This study provides evidence for PC change during the COVID-19 pandemic and identifies sociodemographic, personality, and health moderators of PC trajectory.

The bite is worse than the bark: Associations of personality and depressive symptoms with memory discrepancy.

The discrepancy between subjective memory rating and objective memory performance is the tendency to misestimate one's memory. For example, better self-rated memory compared to performance on memory tasks reflects an overestimation of one's memory. This discrepancy may shape how individuals cognitively age: Overestimating one's memory could mask incident cognitive decline and underestimation could act as a negative self-fulfilling prophecy. This study sought to examine the association between personality traits and depressive symptoms and memory discrepancy in five large samples of middle-aged and older adults (N > 23,000). We preregistered three hypotheses: neuroticism would be related to underestimation, extraversion to overestimation, and conscientiousness to higher accuracy. Controlling for sociodemographic covariates (age, gender, race, ethnicity, and education), results from regression models were pooled using random-effect meta-analyses. Openness was associated with underestimation of memory performance. Contrary to our hypothesis, neuroticism was related to overestimation. Surprisingly, depressive symptoms were also associated with overestimation. Cognitive status (impaired vs. unimpaired) did not moderate the association between personality and memory discrepancy, but it did with depressive symptoms, with a null or opposite effect among individuals with impaired cognition. In conclusion, although previous studies demonstrate consistent associations between personality traits and subjective memory ratings and memory performance, the current findings suggest null or unexpected links between personality and memory discrepancy. The findings suggest that clinicians should not dismiss cognitive complaints in the presence of depressive symptoms or high neuroticism because objective memory performance could be even worse than self-rated memory. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Five-factor model personality traits and 24-h urinary cortisol in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.

Stress is implicated in models of personality and health as a mechanism that explains why traits like conscientiousness and neuroticism are associated with long-term health outcomes. Evidence for an association between personality and cortisol, a biological marker of stress, however, has been inconsistent. This study examined the association between Five-Factor Model personality traits and 24-h urinary cortisol (operationalised as a ratio of urinary free cortisol to creatinine) measured up to 12 times over intervals as long as 30 years in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (Mage  = 61.21, SD = 15.46; 49% female). There was a modest association between conscientiousness and lower mean-level cortisol that was attenuated only slightly in the fully-adjusted model. Neuroticism and the other traits were unrelated to cortisol levels, and none of the traits was related to cortisol change over time. The null association for neuroticism suggests that its relation with long-term health may be primarily through pathways other than cortisol. The modest association between conscientiousness and 24-h urinary cortisol replicates a previous finding with a longer-term measure of cortisol measured from hair, which calls for more research on the robustness and replicability of this finding. Cortisol may be one pathway through which conscientiousness is associated with health outcomes.

Prenatal and postnatal maternal distress and offspring temperament: A longitudinal study.

Maternal distress experienced prenatally and in the child's first year of life has been associated consistently with offspring psychopathology. Less research has addressed whether it is also associated with variations in psychological traits. The present research used two samples from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children to examine the association between maternal prenatal and postnatal distress and offspring temperament across childhood. Maternal distress experienced by mothers was associated with higher offspring reactivity and lower offspring persistence. These associations replicated across both types of maternal distress (prenatal/postnatal), across two different measures of temperament, and remained significant controlling for maternal distress concurrent with the temperament measures and controlling for maternal personality. There was less evidence that either type of maternal distress was associated with sociability and no evidence that it was associated with the trajectory of the three dimensions of temperament across childhood. Maternal distress is associated with traits that reflect dysregulation and may be one mechanism through which prenatal and early life factors contribute to individual differences in psychological function.

Pathways From Early-Life SES to Dementia Risk in Old Age: The Role of Personality.

OBJECTIVES: This study investigates the association between childhood socioeconomic status (cSES) and risk of cognitive impairment in older adulthood, and whether the Five-Factor Model personality traits mediated this association. METHODS: A sample of 9,995 participants (mean age = 67.01 years) from the Health and Retirement Study were followed up every 2 years from 2006 to 2018. cSES was tested as a predictor of risk of dementia and risk of cognitive impairment not dementia (CIND). Personality was tested as a mediator of these associations. Models were adjusted for age, gender, ethnicity, race, education, and baseline year. RESULTS: Although effect sizes were modest, results indicated that lower cSES was associated with a higher risk of dementia (hazard ratio = 0.88 [0.775-0.985]). Higher cSES was also associated with higher conscientiousness and lower neuroticism. Conscientiousness and neuroticism each accounted for 7.9% of the total effect of cSES on dementia. Results were similar for CIND. DISCUSSION: Early childhood socioeconomic factors may contribute to cognitive impairment in older adulthood, an association mediated, in part, through adult personality traits.

Cognitive Impairment and the Trajectory of Loneliness in Older Adulthood: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study.

Objective: To examine whether the trajectory of facets of loneliness-emotional and social-varied by cognitive impairment status in older adulthood. Methods: Data came from the Health and Retirement Study 2008-2018 waves (N = 15,352). Cognitive impairment was assessed using standard cutoffs for cognitive impairment no dementia (CIND) and dementia. The 11-item UCLA loneliness scale was used to measure emotional and social loneliness. Results: Using multilevel modeling, we found that CIND and dementia status were associated with higher overall, emotional, and social loneliness, controlling for physical health, social contact, and depressive symptoms. The trajectory of loneliness did not vary by cognitive status. There were modest variations by sociodemographic factors. Discussion: Persons with CIND and dementia experience heightened emotional and social loneliness, but cognitive impairment does not contribute to the worsening of loneliness. Older adults' social integration may be maintained early in cognitive impairment.