Perceived control buffers against variability in day-to-day cognition in midlife and older age

Perceived control has been identified as a modifiable predictor of healthy cognitive aging. However, little is known about the link between perceived control and intraindividual variability in cognitive performance, a sensitive indicator of early changes in cognition that confers increased risk of later impairment. A better understanding of the association between perceived control and variability in cognitive performance is needed to elucidate protective psychosocial factors that buffer against increased cognitive variability.

Data from the Modifiable Antecedents of Memory and Behavior in Adulthood (MAMBA) Study (n = 217, Mage = 53.6 years, SD = 14.8, range = 30-80, 65% female) was used to (a) examine the link between individual differences in perceived control at baseline and subsequent day-to-day variability in cognitive performance and (b) evaluate when in the adult lifespan this relationship becomes most prominent.

Multilevel heterogeneous variance models revealed that greater perceived control predicted less day-to-day variability (Level-1 residual variances) in executive functioning and processing speed, but not episodic memory. Subsequent age moderation models showed that higher levels of perceived control were most protective against day-to-day cognitive variability in early-to-late midlife.

Study findings suggest that perceived control, a modifiable predictor of healthy aging, may facilitate the maintenance of more stable cognitive performance, especially among individuals who are in early-to-late midlife.