Evidence Supports the Validity and Reliability of Response Times from a Brief Survey as a Digital Biomarker for Processing Speed in a Large Panel Study.

Survey response times (RTs) have hitherto untapped potential to allow researchers to gain more detailed insights into the cognitive performance of participants in online panel studies. We examined if RTs recorded from a brief online survey could serve as a digital biomarker for processing speed. Data from 9,893 adults enrolled in the nationally representative Understanding America Study were used in the analyses.

Early Identification of Cognitive Impairment in Community Environments Through Modeling Subtle Inconsistencies in Questionnaire Responses: Machine Learning Model Development and Validation.

Background: The underdiagnosis of cognitive impairment hinders timely intervention of dementia. Health professionals working in the community play a critical role in the early detection of cognitive impairment, yet still face several challenges such as a lack of suitable tools, necessary training, and potential stigmatization.

Objective: This study explored a novel application integrating psychometric methods with data science techniques to model subtle inconsistencies in questionnaire response data for early identification of cognitive impairment in community environments.

Cognitive Functioning and the Quality of Survey Responses: An Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis of 10 Epidemiological Studies of Aging.

Objectives: Self-reported survey data are essential for monitoring the health and well-being of the population as it ages. For studies of aging to provide precise and unbiased results, it is necessary that the self-reported information meets high psychometric standards. In this study, we examined whether the quality of survey responses in panel studies of aging depends on respondents' cognitive abilities.

Attrition from longitudinal ageing studies and performance across domains of cognitive functioning: an individual participant data meta-analysis.

Objectives: This paper examined the magnitude of differences in performance across domains of cognitive functioning between participants who attrited from studies and those who did not, using data from longitudinal ageing studies where multiple cognitive tests were administered.

Design: Individual participant data meta-analysis.

Participants: Data are from 10 epidemiological longitudinal studies on ageing (total n=209 518) from several Western countries (UK, USA, Mexico, etc).

Neighborhood Social Environment and Self-Perceptions of Aging.

Background And Objectives: Self-perceptions of aging (SPA) are associated with health and well-being later in life. Although prior studies have identified individual-level predictors of SPA, the role of neighborhood social context in SPA remains largely unexplored. A neighborhood social environment may act as a critical avenue for older adults to remain healthy and socially active, contributing to their evaluations of how they grow old.

Using Item Response Times in Online Questionnaires to Detect Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Objectives: With the increase in web-based data collection, response times (RTs) for survey items have become a readily available byproduct in most online studies. We examined whether RTs in online questionnaires can prospectively discriminate between cognitively normal respondents and those with cognitive impairment, no dementia (CIND).

Method: Participants were 943 members of a nationally representative internet panel, aged 50 and older.

Inferring Cognitive Abilities from Response Times to Web-Administered Survey Items in a Population-Representative Sample.

Monitoring of cognitive abilities in large-scale survey research is receiving increasing attention. Conventional cognitive testing, however, is often impractical on a population level highlighting the need for alternative means of cognitive assessment. We evaluated whether response times (RTs) to online survey items could be useful to infer cognitive abilities.

Psychosocial Outcomes of Age Integration Status: Do Age-Integrated Social Networks Benefit Older Adults?

Increased longevity means that older adults have more opportunities to have age-integrated social networks, which include both same-aged peers and intergenerational social ties. Compared to those with peer-only, or intergenerational-only social networks, those with age-integrated networks may experience greater psychosocial benefits due to the age-diverse nature of their social networks. Data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study was used to examine age integration status associations with well-being and social engagement in a nationally representative sample of Medicare beneficiaries in the United States.

Quality of Survey Responses at Older Ages Predicts Cognitive Decline and Mortality Risk.

Background And Objectives: It is widely recognized that survey satisficing, inattentive, or careless responding in questionnaires reduce the quality of self-report data. In this study, we propose that such low-quality responding (LQR) can carry substantive meaning at older ages. Completing questionnaires is a cognitively demanding task and LQR among older adults may reflect early signals of cognitive deficits and pathological aging.

Factors Associated With Advance Care Planning by Race.

Objective: This study aims to quantify and interpret Black-White differences in the factors associated with advance care planning (ACP), with specific attention to self-reported presence of chronic conditions and healthcare stereotype threat (HCST) in medical settings.

Method: Black and White individuals aged 50 and older (N = 499) were recruited from community centers and assisted living facilities in southern California and on Amazon Mechanical Turk. Six sequential logistic regressions assessed the effect of age, presence of chronic conditions, income, and HCST on predicting 3 components of ACP by race.

Subtle mistakes in self-report surveys predict future transition to dementia.

Introduction: We investigate whether indices of subtle reporting mistakes derived from responses in self-report surveys are associated with dementia risk.

Methods: We examined 13,831 participants without dementia from the prospective, population-based Health and Retirement Study (mean age 69 ± 10 years, 59% women). Participants' response patterns in 21 questionnaires were analyzed to identify implausible responses (multivariate outliers), incompatible responses (Guttman errors), acquiescent responses, random errors, and the proportion of skipped questions.

Personality predictors of cognitive dispersion: A coordinated analysis of data from seven international studies of older adults.

Objectives: Dispersion in cognitive test performance within a single testing session is proposed as an early marker of poor brain health. Existing research, however, has not investigated factors that may explain individual differences in cognitive dispersion. We investigate the extent to which the Big Five personality traits are associated with cognitive dispersion in older adulthood.

Information and Communication Technology Use in Older Adults: A Unidirectional or Bi-directional Association with Cognitive Function?

Previous research on older adults' information and communication technology (ICT) use has shown that cognitive function is linked with ICT use; however, the direction of influence has been yet to be determined. The current study examined the temporal sequence of ICT use and cognitive performance. Using three waves (2013, 2015, and 2017) from the National Health and Aging Trends Study, a total of 3,904 community-dwelling older adults aged 65 and above were selected for the analysis.

Is Chronic Pain Temporal Pattern Associated with Middle-Aged and Older Adults' Perceptions of their Futures?

A psychological consequence of chronic pain may be an inappropriately limited future time perspective (FTP) for middle-aged and older adults. FTP is defined as one's perception of time as limited or expansive. Potentially meaningful measures, like pain temporal pattern, are often ignored in the chronic pain literature.

Is Healthy Neuroticism Associated with Health Behaviors? A Coordinated Integrative Data Analysis.

Current literature suggests that neuroticism is positively associated with maladaptive life choices, likelihood of disease, and mortality. However, recent research has identified circumstances under which neuroticism is associated with positive outcomes. The current project examined whether "healthy neuroticism", defined as the interaction of neuroticism and conscientiousness, was associated with the following health behaviors: smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity.

The bidirectional relationship between physical health and memory.

Individuals typically experience changes in physical health and cognitive ability across the life span. Although these constructs dynamically relate to one another, the temporal ordering of dynamic changes in physical health and cognitive ability is not well-established. Therefore, we examined the temporal ordering of the dynamic, bidirectional relationship between physical health and memory across ages 50-87 with Bivariate Dual Change Score Models (BDCSM).

The Association Between Spousal Education and Cognitive Ability Among Older Mexican Adults.

Objectives: Education and cognition are closely associated, yet the role of spousal education is not well understood. We estimate the independent effects of own and spousal education on cognitive ability in late-life in Mexico, a developing country experiencing rapid aging.

Method: We analyzed 4,017 married dyads (age 50+) from the 2012 Mexican Health and Aging Study.

Mortality Risk Associated With Personality Facets of the Big Five and Interpersonal Circumplex Across Three Aging Cohorts.

Objective: To address the common reliance on the global Big Five domains in the personality and longevity literature, the present study examined mortality risk associated with subdimensions of Big Five domains as well as specific traits within the interpersonal circumplex (IPC) model of personality.

Methods: Data were drawn from three major longitudinal studies of aging that administered the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised, a comprehensive measure of the Big Five, and comprised a total of 4223 participants. Item Response Theory models were used to generate latent trait scores for each of the 30 Big Five facets and eight scales from the IPC.

Mobile Apps for Caregivers of Older Adults: Quantitative Content Analysis.

Background: Informal caregivers of older adults provide critical support for their loved ones but are subject to negative health outcomes because of burden and stress. Interventions to provide information and resources as well as social and emotional support reduce burden. Mobile apps featuring access to information, assistance with scheduling, and other features can automate support functions inexpensively and conveniently and reach a greater proportion of caregivers than otherwise possible.

The Health and Retirement Study: Analysis of Associations Between Use of the Internet for Health Information and Use of Health Services at Multiple Time Points.

Background: The use of the internet for health information among older people is receiving increasing attention, but how it is associated with chronic health conditions and health service use at concurrent and subsequent time points using nationally representative data is less known.

Objective: This study aimed to determine whether the use of the internet for health information is associated with health service utilization and whether the association is affected by specific health conditions.

Methods: The study used data collected in a technology module from a nationally representative sample of community-dwelling older Americans aged 52 years and above from the 2012 Health and Retirement Study (HRS; N=991).

Personality Predicts Mortality Risk: An Integrative Data Analysis of 15 International Longitudinal Studies.

This study examined the Big Five personality traits as predictors of mortality risk, and smoking as a mediator of that association. Replication was built into the fabric of our design: we used a Coordinated Analysis with 15 international datasets, representing 44,094 participants. We found that high neuroticism and low conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness were consistent predictors of mortality across studies.

Cognitive activity mediates the association between social activity and cognitive performance: A longitudinal study.

Social activity is 1 aspect of an active lifestyle and some evidence indicates it is related to preserved cognitive function in older adulthood. However, the potential mechanisms underlying this association remain unclear. We investigate 4 potential mediational pathways through which social activity may relate to cognitive performance.

Context-Dependent Learning in People With Parkinson's Disease.

Context-dependent learning is a phenomenon in which people demonstrate superior performance in the context in which they originally learned a skill but perform less well in a novel context. This study investigated context-dependent learning in people with Parkinson's disease (PD) and age-matched nondisabled adults. All participants practiced 3 finger sequences, each embedded within a unique context (colors and locations on a computer screen).