How your executive functioning impacts me: Findings from a normative sample of older couples

Although executive functioning (EF) has implications for one's emotional functioning and interpersonal behavior, and EF skills become more variable as we age, little research has investigated whether normative age-related changes in EF impact social-emotional outcomes in close others. The current study used a dyadic approach to examine the impact of individual differences in core aspects of EF on indices of well-being in 91 married or cohabiting couples aged 55 years and older. Participants in each dyad completed EF tasks of inhibition, working memory, and task switching, control tasks of language and short-term memory (STM) in which EF demands were comparatively minimal, and self-report measures of depression and quality of life. Dyadic analyses showed that individuals with lower levels of EF self-reported more depressive symptoms, though there was no significant association between an individual's EF and their partner's self-reported mood. Conversely, individuals with lower levels of EF had partners who endorsed a lower quality of life, though there was no significant association between an individual's EF and their own quality of life ratings. Control tasks did not predict either aspect of well-being in either member of the dyad. Taken together, these findings highlight EF-and not simply cognition in general-as a potential determinant of well-being in oneself and one's partner among aging couples.