College of Nursing, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
College of Health & Human Development, Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2019 Jul 15;14(7):e0219712. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0219712. eCollection 2019.
Self-reported memory problems are often the first indicator of cognitive decline; however, they are inconsistently associated with objective memory performance and are known to be influenced by individual factors, such as personality. The current study examined the relationships between personality traits and self-reported memory problems in cognitively intact older adults, and whether these associations differ across Black and White older adults. Data were collected annually via in-person comprehensive medical and neuropsychological examinations as part of the Einstein Aging Study. Community-dwelling older adults in an urban, multi-ethnic area of New York City were interviewed. The current study included a total of 425 older adults (Mage = 76.68, SD = 4.72, 62.59% female; 72.00% White). Multilevel modeling tested the associations of neuroticism, conscientiousness, extraversion, openness, and agreeableness with self-reported memory problems. Results showed that neuroticism was positively related to frequency of memory problems and perceived ten-year memory decline only when other personality traits were not accounted for. Extraversion was negatively related to frequency of memory problems and perceived ten-year decline for both White and Black participants. However, conscientiousness was negatively related to perceived ten-year decline for Black participants only. Our findings highlight the importance of examining the association of all five personality traits with self-reported memory problems, as well as examining whether these associations differ for participants from different race/ethnicities.
自我报告的记忆问题通常是认知能力下降的第一个指标;然而，它们与客观记忆表现不一致，并且已知受个体因素的影响，如性格。本研究调查了人格特质与认知正常的老年人自我报告记忆问题之间的关系，以及这些关联在黑人和白人老年人中是否存在差异。数据是通过爱因斯坦老化研究的年度个人综合医学和神经心理学检查收集的。纽约市一个城市、多种族地区的社区居住老年人接受了采访。本研究共包括 425 名老年人(Mage = 76.68, SD = 4.72, 62.59%女性;72.00%白种人)。多层次模型测试了神经质、尽责性、外向性、开放性和宜人性与自我报告记忆问题的关系。结果表明，只有在不考虑其他人格特质的情况下，神经质才与记忆问题的频率和感知十年记忆衰退呈正相关。外向性与白人和黑人参与者的记忆问题频率和感知十年下降呈负相关。然而，尽责性仅与黑人参与者的感知十年下降呈负相关。我们的研究结果强调了检查所有五种人格特质与自我报告记忆问题之间的关联的重要性，以及检查这些关联是否因不同种族/族裔的参与者而有所不同。
