Journal
INTERNATIONAL PSYCHOGERIATRICS
Volume 34, Issue 3, Pages 263-273Publisher
CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1017/S1041610220004214
Keywords
fluency; cognitive aging; purpose in life; meaning in life; cross-cultural
Funding
- National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health [R01AG053297, R01AG068093]
- National Institute on Aging [NIA-U01AG009740, AG-9775, AG-21079, AG-033285, AG-041868, 2RO1AG7644-01A1, 2RO1AG017644, U01_AG09740-13S2, P01_AG005842, P01_AG08291, P30_AG12815, R21_AG025169, Y1-AG-4553-01, IAG_BSR0611, OGHA_04-064, HHSN271201300071C]
- MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Successful Midlife Development (MIDUSI)
- National Institute on Aging (MIDUS II) [P01-AG020166]
- General Clinical Research Centers Program [M01-RR023942, M01-RR00865]
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences [UL1TR000427]
- Vilas Estate Trust
- National Science Foundation
- Spencer Foundation
- Graduate School of the University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Office for National Statistics
- Irish Government
- Atlantic Philanthropies
- Irish Life PLC
- Brazilian Ministry of Health (DECIT/SCTIE -Department of Science and Technology from the Secretariat of Science, Technology and Strategic Inputs) [404965/2012-1]
- COSAPI/DAPES/SAS -Healthcare Coordination of Older Adults, Department of Strategic and Programmatic Actions from the Secretariat of Health Care) [20836, 22566, 23700]
- Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communication
- European Commission [QLK6CT-2001-00360, SHARE-I3: RII-CT-2006062193, COMPARE: CIT5-CT-2005-028857, SHARELIFE: CIT4-CT-2006-028812, 211909, 227822, 261982, 676536, 654221]
- DG Employment, Social Affairs Inclusion
- German Ministry of Education and Research
- Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science
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The study found a strong association between having a sense of purpose and meaning in life with better verbal fluency and episodic memory performance, with consistent results across different demographic groups and cultural contexts. Purpose and meaning may be effective targets for interventions aimed at promoting healthier cognitive aging.
Objectives: Feelings of purpose and meaning in life are protective against consequential cognitive outcomes, including reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease and dementia. Purpose and meaning are likely to also be associated with cognitive functions on the pathway to dementia. The objective of the current research was to test whether both purpose in life and meaning in life are associated with higher verbal fluency and better episodic memory and whether these associations varied by sociodemographic characteristics or economic characteristics of the country. Design: Prospective meta-analysis of cross-sectional associations based on individual participant data. Setting: Established cohort studies with measures of either purpose in life or meaning in life and verbal fluency and episodic memory. Participants: Across the cohorts, there were over 140,000 participants from 32 countries from North and South America, Europe, and the Middle East. Results: The meta-analysis indicated that purpose and meaning were associated with better performance on both the verbal fluency (meta-analytic partial r = .098, 95% confidence interval [CI] = .080, .116, p < .001) and episodic memory (r = .117, 95% CI = .100, .135, p < .001) task and that these associations were similar across measures of purpose in life and meaning in life. There was modest evidence that these associations were slightly stronger in relatively lower-income countries, and there was less consistent evidence that they varied by age, gender, or education. Discussion: These findings indicate a robust association between purpose/meaning and both verbal fluency and episodic memory across demographic groups and cultural context. Purpose/meaning may be a useful target of intervention for healthier cognitive aging.
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