Association of Positive Affect with Cognitive Health and Decline for Elder Mexican Americans

Castro-Schilo, Laura; Fredrickson, Barbara L.; Mungas, Dan

doi:10.1007/s10902-018-0053-5

Research Paper
Published: 07 November 2018

Association of Positive Affect with Cognitive Health and Decline for Elder Mexican Americans

Laura Castro-Schilo ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5856-4875¹,
Barbara L. Fredrickson² &
Dan Mungas³

Journal of Happiness Studies volume 20, pages 2385–2400 (2019)Cite this article

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Abstract

The goal of this study was to investigate the linkages of positive affect (PA) with cognitive health and its decline among elder Mexican Americans. We conducted secondary analysis of longitudinal data from the Sacramento Area Latino Study on Aging. We used the structural equation modeling framework to achieve three specific aims: (1) identify a valid measure of PA, (2) describe within-person trajectories of PA and cognitive health, and (3) test the inter-relations of these two processes over time. Results showed that, on average, PA and cognitive ability (including verbal memory) decreased over time. Yet, there was significant variability in these patterns of change. Bivariate latent growth curve models showed significant correlations of baseline levels and rates of change of PA and cognitive ability even after controlling for age, education, sex, bilingualism, and depression. Results support the hypothesis that increases and decreases in PA tend to be related to increases and decreases in cognitive health at old age among Mexican Americans.

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Acknowledgements

Laura Castro-Schilo received support from the UC Davis Latino Aging Research Resource Center (LARRC) a Resource Center for Minority Aging Research (RCMAR) under NIH/NIA Grant P30-AG043097. The content of this article does not represent the official views of NIH or the NIA.

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Authors and Affiliations

SAS Institute Inc., Cary, USA
Laura Castro-Schilo
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, USA
Barbara L. Fredrickson
University of California, Davis, USA
Dan Mungas

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Laura Castro-Schilo
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Barbara L. Fredrickson
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Dan Mungas
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Correspondence to Laura Castro-Schilo.

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Castro-Schilo, L., Fredrickson, B.L. & Mungas, D. Association of Positive Affect with Cognitive Health and Decline for Elder Mexican Americans. J Happiness Stud 20, 2385–2400 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-018-0053-5

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Published: 07 November 2018
Issue Date: December 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-018-0053-5

Keywords

Cognitive health
Cognitive decline
Positive affect
Elder Mexican Americans
Aging