Life Events, Depression, and Cognition in Older Age: An Intraindividual Approach

描述(由申请人提供)：数十年的研究已经将应激性生活事件与不利的心理健康(例如，抑郁)和认知结果联系起来。虽然研究已经记录了生活事件抑郁症状和认知功能的不利影响，但很少有研究明确地研究老年人之间的这种联系，并从个人内部(个人内部)的角度进行研究。了解老年人中生活事件的分布、发生和时间，以及这些事件如何随着时间的推移预测抑郁症状和认知功能，对于研究衰老中的压力是一个关键的挑战。了解老年人随着年龄增长而经历的生活事件的类型、频率和时间安排，将有助于更好地了解他们的生活以及影响他们心理和认知健康的背景因素。此外，纵向调查将深入了解随着时间的推移生活事件、抑郁症状和人内认知功能之间的联系，以及与衰老有关的对生活事件影响的脆弱性。我们的项目利用了健康和退休研究(HRS)的纵向数据，这是一项对老年人(50岁以上)进行的具有全国代表性的研究。具体地说，我们将使用来自初始HRS队列(年龄50-60岁，生于1921-1941年)和最年长的老年人(年龄在70岁以上，出生于1923年之前)队列中的资产和健康动态的数据，他们提供了长达18年的两年一度的纵向数据，直到2010年。HRS的设计将允许纵向跟踪老年人的生活事件，以及建立生活事件、抑郁症状和人内认知功能之间随时间推移的关联模型，以检查生活事件的同时和滞后影响。这项研究将针对三个目标：目标1检查老年人生活事件的发生和时间；目标2检查生活事件对抑郁症状和认知功能的近期、预期和累积影响；目标3检查与年龄有关的对生活事件对抑郁症状和认知功能影响的易感性。本研究的意义在于了解：1)整个老年生活事件的发生和时间；2)生活事件对抑郁症状和认知功能的近期、前瞻性和累积性影响；以及3)与衰老相关的生活事件易感性。创新领域包括： 1)新颖地使用具有全国代表性的大规模调查数据来跟踪生活体验 2)使用纵向数据来阐明生活事件对老年抑郁症状和认知功能的最近的、预期的和累积的影响；以及3)使用分析技术来明确地考察随着时间的推移生活事件、抑郁症状和人内认知功能之间的个体内联系。公共卫生相关性：拟议研究的影响来自于提高我们对老年人经历的生活事件及其对心理和认知健康的影响的理解。确定老年人经历的生活事件的类型和时间安排将直接为促进健康老龄化的干预和预防战略提供信息。 公共卫生相关性：该项目使用健康与退休研究的数据，这是一项对50岁以上人口进行的具有全国代表性的纵向研究，该项目将在一项针对老年人的大型调查中，检查与经历过的生活事件相关的问题及其对抑郁症状和认知功能的影响。这项研究将有助于了解衰老过程中生活事件的发生和时间，以及这些生活事件如何影响衰老背景下的抑郁症状和认知功能。它还将有助于了解生活事件发生的人口趋势及其对心理和认知健康的影响，并有助于识别高危个人/群体。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Decades of research have linked stressful life events to adverse mental health (e.g., depression) and cognitive outcomes. While research has documented the adverse effects of life events depressive symptoms and cognitive function, less research has explicitly examined such links among older adults, and from an intraindividual (within-person) perspective. Understanding the distribution, occurrence, and timing of life events among older adults, and how these events predict depressive symptoms and cognitive function over time represents a critical challenge for research on stress in aging. Knowing the types, frequency, and timing of life events that older adults experience as they age will provide better insight into their lives and the contextual factors that influence their mental and cognitive healt. Furthermore, longitudinal investigations will provide insight into links between life events, depressive symptoms, and cognitive function within-persons over time, and aging-related vulnerability to the influence of life events. Our project draws on longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a nationally-representative study of older adults (age 50+). Specifically, we will use data from the initial HRS cohort (ages 50-60, born 1921-1941) and Assets and Health Dynamics among the Oldest Old (AHEAD) cohort (age 70+, born before 1923), who have provided up to 18-years of biannual longitudinal data through 2010. The design of HRS will allow tracking of life events among older adults longitudinally, as well as modeling associations among life events, depressive symptoms, and cognitive function within-persons over time, to examine concurrent and lagged effects of life events. This study will address three aims: Aim 1 examines the occurrence and timing of life events among older adults; Aim 2 examines the proximal, prospective, and cumulative effects of life events on depressive symptoms and cognitive function; and Aim 3 examines aging-related vulnerability to the effect of life events on depressive symptoms and cognitive function. The significance of this study lies in understanding: 1) the occurrence and timing of life events throughout old age; 2) the proximal, prospective and cumulative effects of life events on depressive symptoms and cognitive function; and 3) aging-related vulnerability to life events. Areas of innovation include: 1) a novel use of large-scale nationally representative survey data to track the experience of life events; 2) the use of longitudinal data to elucidate proximal, prospective, and cumulative effects of life events on depressive symptoms and cognitive function in old age; and 3) the use of analytic techniques for explicitly examining intraindividual associations among life events, depressive symptoms and cognitive function within-person associations over time. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The impact of the proposed research derives from improving our understanding of the life events experienced by older adults and their effects on mental and cognitive health. Identifying the types and timing of life events older adults experience will directly inform intervention and prevention strategies to promote healthy aging. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Using data from the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative longitudinal study of the population over 50, this project will examine issues related to experienced life events and their effects on depressive symptoms and cognitive function in a large survey of older adults. This research will help understand the occurrence and timing of life events over the course of aging, and how these life events influence depressive symptoms and cognitive function in the context of aging. It will also contribute to understanding population trends in life event occurrence and their impact on mental and cognitive health, and the identification of high risk individuals/groups.