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Highlighting and Reducing the Impact of Negative Aging Stereotypes During Older Adults' Cognitive Testing

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Relationships between bereavement and cognitive functioning in older adults.

L Ward¹, J L Mathias, S E Hitchings

¹School of Psychology, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia. lynn.ward@adelaide.edu.au

|July 12, 2007

Summary

Spousal loss can increase depression, anxiety, and stress in older adults. However, cognitive deficits linked to bereavement appear to be primarily due to these mood changes, not grief itself.

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Area of Science:

Gerontology
Neuropsychology
Psychiatry

Background:

Bereavement is commonly linked to increased depression, anxiety, and stress in older adults.
The independent impact of grief on cognitive function, separate from mood disturbances, remains under-examined in older populations.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the association between spousal loss and cognitive performance in older adults.
To determine if cognitive deficits are directly related to bereavement or secondary to mood changes like depression, anxiety, and stress.

Main Methods:

Compared bereaved (n=25) and non-bereaved (n=25) adults aged 65-80 on cognitive tests (attention, verbal fluency, memory, visuospatial ability).
Assessed depression, anxiety, stress, complicated grief, and social support in bereaved individuals.
Used hierarchical multiple regression to analyze cognitive performance, controlling for mood variables.

Main Results:

Bereaved individuals exhibited higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress, with poorer performance in attention, processing speed, and verbal fluency.
Cognitive differences between groups, except for attentional switching, were correlated with mood.
Statistical control for mood eliminated group differences in cognitive tests; 28% of bereaved met criteria for complicated grief.

Conclusions:

Grief following spousal loss shows minimal direct association with cognitive function in older adults.
Observed cognitive impairments are largely attributable to associated increases in depression, anxiety, and stress.