Personalidade e estabilidade da cognição em idosos: um estudo longitudinal brasileiro

• Ano de defesa: 2023
• Autor(a) principal: Karen Rosângela Silva de Souza Saviotti
• Tipo de documento: Tese
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: por
• Instituição de defesa: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; Brasil; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Neurociências; UFMG
• Palavras-chave em Português: Idoso; Personalidade; Cognição; Neurociências; Envelhecimento
• Link de acesso: http://hdl.handle.net/1843/72347

The global elderly population continues to grow faster than other age groups and the growth of this segment of the population increases the number of elderly people affected by diseases resulting from aging. Maintaining cognitive status is a great concern for elderly people since a marked cognitive decline can imply a loss of autonomy and functionality. Some factors have been considered protective variables for cognition during the aging process. Personality characteristics are identified as a factor strongly associated with both successful and pathological aging, whether in the physical or cognitive scope. Therefore, the objective of this work was to analyze the cognitive performance of a group of elderly people over two years and the possible relationships with personality characteristics as possible predictors of cognitive performance and investigate the possible associations between education, depressive symptoms and personality characteristics, as well as evaluate the differences between men and women in personality characteristics. The results found indicated significant differences between men and women in the traits of neuroticism and extraversion. The analyzes of the longitudinal study showed that the sample remained cognitively stable throughout the two years of study. Some personality traits correlated with cognitive variables at the beginning of the study. Openness and extraversion were correlated with general cognition, while agreeableness and openness were correlated with semantic memory. Only agreeableness proved to be a predictor variable of the sample's cognitive stability. Our results showed that personality characteristics correlate with some aspects of cognition. The absence of a relationship between personality traits as predictors of cognitive stability may be related to the sample's short follow-up time or to the personality instrument being only capable of analyzing major factors. Therefore, new studies are needed with longer follow-up periods and instruments that can reveal more detailed aspects of the personality characteristics of elderly people.