Department of Psychology and Behavioural Science, Unit for Psychooncology and Health Psychology (Epos), Aarhus University, Bartholins Alle 11, Bld. 1351, 8000, Aarhus, Denmark.
Department of Oncology, Aarhus University Hospital, Palle Juul-Jensens Blvd. 99, 8200, Aarhus, Denmark.
BMC Geriatr. 2023 Mar 4;23(1):121. doi: 10.1186/s12877-023-03848-8.
Research indicates detrimental effects of stress on brain health and cognitive functioning, but population-based studies using comprehensive measures of cognitive decline is lacking. The present study examined the association of midlife perceived stress with cognitive decline from young adulthood to late midlife, controlling for early life circumstances, education and trait stress (neuroticism).
The sample consisted of 292 members of the Copenhagen Perinatal Cohort (1959-1961) with continued participation in two subsequent follow-up studies. Cognitive ability was assessed in young adulthood (mean age 27 years) and midlife (mean age 56 years) using the full Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), and perceived stress was measured at midlife using the Perceived Stress Scale. The association of midlife perceived stress with decline in Verbal, Performance and Full-Scale IQ was assessed in multiple regression models based on Full Information Maximum Likelihood estimation.
Over a mean retest interval of 29 years, average decline in IQ score was 2.42 (SD 7.98) in Verbal IQ and 8.87 (SD 9.37) in Performance IQ. Mean decline in Full-scale IQ was 5.63 (SD 7.48), with a retest correlation of 0.83. Controlling for parental socio-economic position, education and young adult IQ, higher perceived stress at midlife was significantly associated with greater decline in Verbal (β = - 0.012), Performance (β = - 0.025), and Full-scale IQ (β = - 0.021), all p < .05. Across IQ scales, additionally controlling for neuroticism in young adulthood and change in neuroticism had only minor effects on the association of midlife perceived stress with decline.
Despite very high retest correlations, decline was observed on all WAIS IQ scales. In fully adjusted models, higher midlife perceived stress was associated with greater decline on all scales, indicating a negative association of stress with cognitive ability. The association was strongest for Performance and Full-scale IQ, perhaps reflecting the greater decline on these IQ scales compared to Verbal IQ.
研究表明，压力对大脑健康和认知功能有不利影响，但缺乏使用全面认知衰退衡量标准的基于人群的研究。本研究检验了从中年早期到中年后期，中年时期感知到的压力与认知能力下降之间的关系，同时控制了早期生活环境、教育和特质压力（神经质）。
该样本由 292 名哥本哈根围产期队列（1959-1961 年）的成员组成，他们继续参加了随后的两项随访研究。在年轻成年期（平均年龄 27 岁）和中年期（平均年龄 56 岁）使用完整的韦氏成人智力量表（WAIS）评估认知能力，并用感知压力量表评估中年时期的感知压力。基于完全信息极大似然估计的多元回归模型评估中年时期感知到的压力与言语、表现和全量表智商下降之间的关系。
在平均重测间隔 29 年期间，言语智商的平均下降为 2.42（SD 7.98），表现智商的平均下降为 8.87（SD 9.37）。全量表智商的平均下降为 5.63（SD 7.48），重测相关系数为 0.83。在控制父母的社会经济地位、教育程度和年轻成人智商后，中年时期感知到的压力较高与言语智商（β=-0.012）、表现智商（β=-0.025）和全量表智商（β=-0.021）的下降显著相关，所有 p 值均<.05。在所有智商量表中，进一步控制年轻时的神经质和神经质的变化对中年时期感知到的压力与下降之间的关联只有很小的影响。
尽管重测相关性非常高，但在所有 WAIS 智商量表上都观察到了下降。在完全调整的模型中，较高的中年时期感知到的压力与所有量表上的较大下降相关，表明压力与认知能力呈负相关。在表现和全量表智商上的关联最强，这可能反映了与言语智商相比，这些智商量表上的下降更大。
