A review of the literature on wellbeing and modifiable dementia risk factors.

Wellbeing-defined broadly as experiencing one's life as enjoyable and fulfilling-has been associated with lower risk for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. The mechanisms underlying this association are largely unknown. However, prior research and theory suggest that wellbeing impacts health behaviors and biological systems that are relevant to cognitive and brain health. Several of these factors have also been identified by the 2020 Lancet Commission on Dementia Prevention, Intervention, and Care as modifiable dementia risk factors. In the current review, we summarize and evaluate the evidence for associations between wellbeing and each of the 12 Lancet Commission risk factors. We found relatively consistent evidence for associations between higher wellbeing and lower levels of most of the risk factors: physical inactivity, social isolation, smoking, depression, hypertension, diabetes, hearing loss, traumatic brain injury, and air pollution. By contrast, we found evidence for only modest associations between wellbeing and education and mixed evidence for associations of wellbeing with alcohol use and body weight. Although most of the reviewed evidence was observational, longitudinal and experimental evidence suggests that many of the observed associations are likely bidirectional. These findings suggest that modifiable dementia risk factors may be mediators (i.e., intermediate steps in the causal chain) and/or confounders (i.e., variables that impact both wellbeing and dementia, and thus could induce a spurious association) of the association between wellbeing and dementia. We conclude by discussing next steps to test mediation hypotheses and to account for potential confounding in the relation between wellbeing and dementia.

A Longitudinal Investigation of the Association Between Stroke and Loneliness.

OBJECTIVES: The present research examined associations between stroke and long-term trajectories of loneliness. METHODS: We conducted secondary analyses in 3 large representative panel studies of adults 50 years and older in the United States, Europe, and Israel: the English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA; analytic N = 14,992); the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE; analytic N = 103,782); and the Health and Retirement Study (HRS; analytic N = 22,179). Within each sample, we used discontinuous growth curve modeling to estimate loneliness trajectories across adulthood and the impact of stroke on loneliness trajectories. RESULTS: Across all 3 samples, participants who experienced stroke reported higher levels of loneliness relative to participants who did not experience stroke. In ELSA and HRS (but not SHARE), loneliness levels were higher after stroke onset relative to before stroke onset. DISCUSSION: This research adds to a growing body of evidence demonstrating elevated loneliness among stroke survivors and highlights the need for interventions to increase social connectedness after stroke.

Psychosocial factors and well-being among adults with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease: A cross-sectional study.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE: The goal of the current study is to examine the relationships between psychosocial factors and well-being among adults with Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease, a progressive neuromuscular disorder. Specifically, we aimed to examine associations between psychosocial factors and sense of purpose as well as the moderating role of sense of purpose on associations between psychosocial factors and two other measures of well-being (life satisfaction and health-related quality of life). RESEARCH METHOD/DESIGN: In 2021, we recruited 263 U.S. adults with CMT (Mage = 60.15 years, 58.56% female, 92.40% White) to take part in a cross-sectional study. Participants were asked to complete an online survey assessing components of well-being as well as various psychosocial factors. RESULTS: Moderate-to-strong associations were found between most psychosocial factors assessed and sense of purpose in individuals with CMT. In addition, sense of purpose moderated the relationship between multiple psychosocial factors and other measures of well-being. CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS: Psychosocial factors may be important to consider when examining well-being among individuals with CMT. Furthermore, sense of purpose may be a beneficial tool for promoting well-being in this population. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).