This proposal is in response to PA-10-139 Secondary Analyses of Social and Behavioral Datasets in Aging (R03) and seeks support to analyze publicly available data collected as part of the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) study. The proposed research intends to examine the relationship between two facets of control beliefs-Intellectual Self-efficacy and Concern about Intellectual Aging (as measured by the Personality in Intellectual Aging Contexts Inventory)-and cognition over a 10- year period within the context of the ACTIVE study.
For Aim 1, we will examine the developmental trajectories of Intellectual Self-efficacy and Concern about Intellectual Aging. To date, few studies have examined age-related changes in control beliefs over an extended time frame;such studies have been further limited by small sample sizes or few follow-up assessments.
In Aim 1, we also will examine whether these trajectories are influenced by individual difference characteristics (e.g., age, sex, ethnicity/race, education). Assuming that a stronger sense of control is beneficial for cognitive functioning, understanding how beliefs vary with demographic factors can help target interventions to specific populations. Although beliefs can influence cognitive performance, it is equally plausible that cognitive performance influences beliefs.
For Aim 2, we will examine the reciprocal associations between trajectories of Intellectual Self- efficacy and Concern about Intellectual Aging and cognitive performance over time.
For Aim 3, we will examine how the relationships (established in Aims 1 and 2), differ as a function of participation in the ACTIVE cognitive training program (relative to no-contact controls). ACTIVE presents a unique context to investigate these relationships for several reasons, including: 1) a large sample of diverse, community-dwelling older adults;2) multiple measures of cognitive abilities;3) randomization to one of three cognitive interventions (memory, reasoning, speed of processing) or to a no-contact control group;and 4) long duration of follow-up. We have already learned much from these longitudinal data about the plasticity of cognitive abilities in later life. The findings of the proposed study will advance our understandin of the temporal associations between personal control and cognition over a 10-year period, as well as how individual differences in control beliefs and attitudes toward intellectual aging impac immediate and long- term training gains. The findings have major implications for further development and dissemination of preventative interventions to promote cognitive health in an aging population.
The proposed research is a secondary analysis of the data collected as part of the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) study. Specifically, this research will examine the relationship between two facets of control beliefs--Intellectual Self-efficacy and Concern about Intellectual Aging (as measured by the Personality in Intellectual Aging Contexts Inventory)-and cognition over a 10-year period within the context of a cognitive training program. Such knowledge will inform future development and dissemination of interventions to promote cognitive well-being in later adulthood.
| Parisi, Jeanine M; Gross, Alden L; Marsiske, Michael et al. (2017) Control beliefs and cognition over a 10-year period: Findings from the ACTIVE trial. Psychol Aging 32:69-75 |
