PhD Student, EDGE Lab, School of Psychology, University of Sussex, UK.
Postdoctoral researcher, MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at UCL, UK.
Br J Psychiatry. 2019 Nov;215(5):675-682. doi: 10.1192/bjp.2019.24.
Affective disorders are associated with poorer cognition in older adults; however, whether this association can already be observed in mid-life remains unclear.
To investigate the effects of affective symptoms over a period of 30 years on mid-life cognitive function. First, we explored whether timing (sensitive period) or persistence (accumulation) of affective symptoms predicted cognitive function. Second, we tested how different longitudinal trajectories of affective symptoms were associated with cognitive function.
The study used data from the National Child Development Study. Memory, verbal fluency, information processing speed and accuracy were measured at age 50. Affective symptoms were measured at ages 23, 33, 42 and 50 and used to derive longitudinal trajectories. A structured modelling approach compared a set of nested models in order to test accumulation versus sensitive period hypotheses. Linear regressions and structural equation modelling were used to test for longitudinal associations of affective symptoms with cognitive function.
Accumulation of affective symptoms was found to be the best fit for the data, with persistent affective symptoms being associated with poorer immediate memory (b = -0.07, s.e. = 0.03, P = 0.01), delayed memory (b = -0.13, s.e. = 0.04, P < 0.001) and information processing accuracy (b = 0.18, s.e. = 0.08, P = 0.03), but not with information processing speed (b = 3.15, s.e. = 1.89, P = 0.10). Longitudinal trajectories of repeated affective symptoms were associated with poorer memory, verbal fluency and information processing accuracy.
Persistent affective symptoms can affect cognitive function in mid-life. Effective management of affective disorders to prevent recurrence may reduce risk of poor cognitive outcomes and promote healthy cognitive ageing.
None.
情感障碍与老年人认知能力下降有关；然而，这种关联是否在中年时期就已经存在尚不清楚。
探讨 30 年来情感症状对中年认知功能的影响。首先，我们探讨了情感症状的发生时间（敏感期）或持续时间（积累）是否预测认知功能。其次，我们测试了不同纵向情感症状轨迹与认知功能的关系。
该研究使用了国家儿童发展研究的数据。记忆力、词汇流畅性、信息处理速度和准确性在 50 岁时进行测量。情感症状在 23、33、42 和 50 岁时进行测量，并用于推导出纵向轨迹。采用结构化建模方法比较了一组嵌套模型，以检验积累与敏感期假说。线性回归和结构方程模型用于测试情感症状与认知功能的纵向关联。
发现情感症状的积累是最适合数据的模型，持续性情感症状与即时记忆（b = -0.07，s.e. = 0.03，P = 0.01）、延迟记忆（b = -0.13，s.e. = 0.04，P < 0.001）和信息处理准确性（b = 0.18，s.e. = 0.08，P = 0.03）较差有关，但与信息处理速度（b = 3.15，s.e. = 1.89，P = 0.10）无关。重复情感症状的纵向轨迹与记忆、词汇流畅性和信息处理准确性较差有关。
持续性情感症状会影响中年人的认知功能。有效管理情感障碍以预防复发可能会降低认知结局不良的风险，并促进健康的认知衰老。
无。
