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Updated: Jun 17, 2025
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Highlighting and Reducing the Impact of Negative Aging Stereotypes During Older Adults' Cognitive Testing
Published on: January 24, 2020
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When and how perceived control buffers against cognitive declines: A moderated mediation analysis.
Jeremy M Hamm1, Margie E Lachman2, Katherine A Duggan1
1Department of Psychology, North Dakota State University.
Psychology and Aging
|August 12, 2024
Summary
Changes in perceived control influence cognitive aging through light physical activity (LPA). Declines in perceived constraints were linked to better memory in older adults via increased LPA, highlighting a pathway more pronounced in late life.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Gerontology
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Perceived control is a known factor in cognitive aging.
- Mechanisms linking perceived control to cognitive decline are not fully understood.
- Light physical activity (LPA) has not been explored as a mediator.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate light physical activity (LPA) as a mechanism linking perceived control to cognitive function over time.
- To examine how age moderates these pathways.
- To differentiate the roles of personal mastery and perceived constraints.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of longitudinal data from the Midlife in the United States Study (N=2,456).
- Utilized autoregressive and moderated mediation models.
- Examined changes in perceived control, LPA, episodic memory, and executive functioning over 9 years.
Main Results:
- Changes in personal mastery and perceived constraints predicted cognitive function via changes in LPA.
- Only the mediated effects of perceived constraints remained significant when both control facets were included.
- The pathway from perceived constraints to episodic memory via LPA was strongest in older adults.
Conclusions:
- Light physical activity (LPA) may be a key mechanism linking perceived constraints to cognitive functioning.
- This pathway becomes more significant in late life, suggesting a critical period for intervention.
- Findings contribute to lifespan theories of control and cognitive aging.
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