Hamm Jeremy M, Lachman Margie E, Duggan Katherine A, Mogle Jacqueline A, McGrath Ryan, Parker Kelly, Klepacz Laura M
Department of Psychology, North Dakota State University.
Department of Psychology, Brandeis University.
Psychol Aging. 2025 Feb;40(1):39-53. doi: 10.1037/pag0000841. Epub 2024 Aug 12.
Although perceived control is a well-established predictor of cognitive aging, less is known about how and under what developmental circumstances these beliefs about personal influence may protect against cognitive declines. Our study examined light physical activity (LPA) as an unexplored mechanism that may link changes in two facets of perceived control (personal mastery, perceived constraints) to longitudinal trajectories of cognitive functioning. We also examined whether mediated pathways were moderated by age (i.e., differed across the adult lifespan). We analyzed two-wave, 9-year data from the national Midlife in the United States Study ( = 2,456; = 56 years, range = 30-84; 56% female) using autoregressive mediation and moderated mediation models. Mediation models showed that changes in personal mastery and perceived constraints predicted episodic memory and executive functioning via self-reported change in LPA. Only the mediated effects of constraints remained significant in a model that included both mastery and constraints as predictors. Moderated mediation models showed that, for episodic memory, the mediated pathways were strongest in old age and emerged only for constraints: For older but not younger adults, declines in constraints were associated with less decline in episodic memory, as mediated by increases in LPA. Results were consistent in sensitivity analyses that controlled for levels and change in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Findings inform lifespan theories of control and provide initial evidence that change in a largely overlooked health behavior (LPA) may underlie the link between perceived constraints and cognitive functioning, with this pathway becoming more pronounced in late life. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).
尽管感知控制是认知衰老的一个公认预测指标，但对于这些关于个人影响力的信念如何以及在何种发展环境下能够预防认知衰退，我们所知甚少。我们的研究考察了轻度身体活动（LPA）作为一种未被探索的机制，它可能将感知控制的两个方面（个人掌控感、感知到的限制）的变化与认知功能的纵向轨迹联系起来。我们还考察了中介路径是否受到年龄的调节（即，在整个成年期有所不同）。我们使用自回归中介模型和调节中介模型，分析了来自美国全国中年研究的两波、为期9年的数据（N = 2456；年龄均值 = 56岁，范围 = 30 - 84岁；56%为女性）。中介模型表明，个人掌控感和感知到的限制的变化通过自我报告的LPA变化预测情景记忆和执行功能。在一个将掌控感和限制都作为预测变量的模型中，只有限制的中介效应仍然显著。调节中介模型表明，对于情景记忆，中介路径在老年时最强，并且仅在限制方面出现：对于老年人而非年轻人，限制的下降与情景记忆下降较少相关，这是由LPA增加所介导的。在控制了中度至剧烈身体活动水平和变化的敏感性分析中，结果是一致的。研究结果为控制的毕生理论提供了信息，并提供了初步证据，表明一种在很大程度上被忽视的健康行为（LPA）的变化可能是感知到的限制与认知功能之间联系的基础，并且这条路径在晚年变得更加明显。（《心理学文摘数据库记录》（c）2025美国心理学会，保留所有权利）
