The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences Advance Access published online on October 28, 2009
The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, doi:10.1093/geronb/gbp082
Neuroticism in Adolescence and Cognitive Function in Midlife in the British 1946 Birth Cohort: The HALCyon Program
1 Medical Research Council Epidemiology Resource Centre, University of Southampton, UK
2 Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, UK
3 Medical Research Council Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing, University College London, UK
4 Department of Psychiatry
5 Well-being Institute, University of Cambridge, UK
Address correspondence to Catharine Gale, PhD, MRC Epidemiology Resource Centre, University of Southampton, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK. Email crg{at}mrc.soton.ac.uk
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Abstract |
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We examined whether higher levels of neuroticism in adolescence were associated with poorer cognitive function in midlife in 2,071 members of the British 1946 birth cohort. Higher neuroticism at age 13 was associated with poorer performance on tests of verbal ability, verbal fluency, and verbal memory at age 53 in sex-adjusted analyses. However, higher neuroticism was also associated with poorer cognitive performance at age 8. After adjustment for childhood cognition or educational attainment, the associations between neuroticism at age 13 and midlife cognition ceased to be statistically significant. The link between neuroticism and subsequent cognitive ability may be a reflection of a long-standing correlation between the stable aspects of these traits since childhood, but further measurements of both traits are needed to confirm this.
Key Words: Personality • Neuroticism • Cognition • Life course and developmental change
Received February 4, 2009; Accepted September 20, 2009