Schoen Chelsea B, Holtzer Roee
a Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology , Yeshiva University , Bronx , NY , USA.
b Department of Neurology , Albert Einstein College of Medicine , Bronx , NY , USA.
Neuropsychol Dev Cogn B Aging Neuropsychol Cogn. 2017 Sep;24(5):481-495. doi: 10.1080/13825585.2016.1226247. Epub 2016 Sep 7.
Research suggests a reciprocal relationship between late-life anxiety and cognition, particularly attention and executive functions. Whereas evidence supports a conceptual distinction between cognitive and somatic dimensions of anxiety, their differential relationship with cognitive outcomes has not been examined, particularly on tests of attention/executive functions that rely on processing speed. Study goals were threefold: (a) to describe levels of overall, cognitive, and somatic anxiety in a sample of older adults without dementia, (b) to determine if overall anxiety is associated with performance on select measures of attention/executive functions that rely on processing speed, and (c) to determine if a differential relationship exists between cognitive and somatic anxiety and cognitive performance. Participants were 368 community-dwelling older adults. Results showed that elevated levels of somatic, but not cognitive anxiety were associated with poorer performance across measures. Findings suggest that the nature of anxiety symptoms may have important implications for cognitive performance in older adults.
研究表明，晚年焦虑与认知之间存在一种相互关系，尤其是在注意力和执行功能方面。虽然有证据支持焦虑的认知维度和躯体维度之间存在概念上的区别，但它们与认知结果的差异关系尚未得到研究，特别是在依赖处理速度的注意力/执行功能测试中。研究目标有三个：（a）描述无痴呆症老年人样本中的总体、认知和躯体焦虑水平，（b）确定总体焦虑是否与依赖处理速度的注意力/执行功能的特定测量指标的表现相关，以及（c）确定认知焦虑和躯体焦虑与认知表现之间是否存在差异关系。参与者为368名社区居住的老年人。结果表明，躯体焦虑水平升高而非认知焦虑水平升高与各项测量指标的较差表现相关。研究结果表明，焦虑症状的性质可能对老年人的认知表现具有重要影响。
