Trajectories of Personality Traits Preceding Dementia Diagnosis

Tomiko Yoneda, Jonathan Rush, Anne Ingeborg Berg, Boo Johansson and Andrea M Piccinin

The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 2017, vol. 72, issue 6, 922-931

Abstract: BackgroundSeveral retrospective studies using informant report have shown that individuals with dementia demonstrate considerable personality change. Two prospective studies, also using informant report, have shown that individuals who develop dementia show some personality changes prior to diagnosis. The current study is the first to assess personality trait change prior to dementia diagnosis using self-report measures from longitudinal data. Method: This study used data from the Swedish OCTO-Twin Study, a longitudinal panel of 702 twins aged 80 and older. Analysis was restricted to 86 individuals who completed the Eysenck Personality Inventory and received a dementia diagnosis during follow-up occasions. Latent growth curve analyses were used to examine trajectories of extraversion and neuroticism preceding dementia diagnosis. Results: Controlling for sex, age, education, depressive symptoms, and the interaction between age and education, growth curve analyses revealed a linear increase in neuroticism and stability in extraversion. Individuals who were eventually diagnosed with dementia showed a significant increase in neuroticism preceding diagnosis of dementia. Discussion: Personality change, specifically an increase in neuroticism, may be an early indicator of dementia. Identification of early indicators of dementia may facilitate development of screening assessments and aid in early care strategies and planning.

Keywords: Dementia; Extraversion; Longitudinal; Neuroticism; Older adults; Personality change (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/geronb/gbw006 (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:geronb:v:72:y:2017:i:6:p:922-931.

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://academic.oup.com/journals

Access Statistics for this article

The Journals of Gerontology: Series B is currently edited by Psychological Sciences - S. Duke Han, PhD and Social Sciences - Jessica A Kelley, PhD, FGSA

More articles in The Journals of Gerontology: Series B from The Gerontological Society of America Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, UK.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Oxford University Press ().