Longitudinal Associations Between Psychological Resilience and Cognitive Function:Evidence from the U.S. Health and Retirement Study

Reductions in psychological resilience and declining cognition are common among older adults. Understanding the longitudinal association between them could be beneficial for interventions that focus on age-related cognitive and psychological health. In this study, we evaluated the longitudinal associations between cognition and psychological resilience over time in a nationally representative sample of U.S. older adults. A total of 9,075 respondents aged 65 and above from 2006 to 2020 health and retirement study (HRS) were included in the current study. Cognition was measured through a modified 35-point Telephone Interview Cognitive Screen, and psychological resilience in the HRS was calculated using a previously established simplified resilience score. Bivariate latent growth modeling was used to examine the parallel association between psychological resilience and cognitive function over a period of up to 12 years. Positive correlations existed between the intercepts (r = 0.20, SE = 0.07, p < .001) as well as the slopes (r = 0.36, SE = 0.03, p < .001) for psychological resilience and cognition. The initial level of cognition positively predicted the slope of psychological resilience (β=0.16, SE=0.01, p<.001), whereas a somewhat less robust effect was found for the slope of cognition and the initial level of psychological resilience (β=0.10, SE=0.03, p<.001), after controlling all other covariates. In a population-based sample of U.S. older adults, cognition and psychological resilience could mutually reinforce one another. Clinicians and policy makers may consider recommending tasks associated with improving cognitive function for interventions to bolster psychological resilience among older adults.