Observational studyJournal of the American Medical Directors Association2023
Changes in Personality Before and During Cognitive Impairment.
Observational study in Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Meta-analyses of personality change from the preclinical to the clinical stages of dementia.Ageing research reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Personality Traits and Attention in Israeli Older Adults: An Exploratory Study.Geriatrics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Meaning in life and Parkinson's disease: Evidence from a 17-year study across 14 countries.Archives of gerontology and geriatrics · 2026Article
- Trajectories of Purpose in Life Across Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease or Related Dementias in Older Adulthood.Journal of aging and health · 2025Article
- A Systematic Review on Subjective Cognitive Complaints: Main Neurocognitive Domains, Myriad Assessment Tools, and New Approaches for Early Detection.Geriatrics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Marital status and risk of dementia over 18 years: Surprising findings from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Article
- Longitudinal associations between amyloid and symptoms of depression and anxiety in subjective cognitive decline: the impact of personality characteristics.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Personality and Transition From Mild Cognitive Impairment to Normal Cognition vs Dementia.Journal of the American Medical Directors Association · 2024Observational
- Testing of significant changes in big-five personality factors over time in the presence and absence of memory impairment and life-related stress.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Informant-rated change in personality traits, psychological distress, well-being, and social connection with dementia.Archives of gerontology and geriatrics · 2023Article
- Change in Purpose in Life Before and After Onset of Cognitive Impairment.JAMA network open · 2023Article
- Neuroticism and white matter hyperintensities.Journal of psychiatric research · 2023Article
- The relationship between personality traits and Alzheimer's disease: a narrative review.Frontiers in neurologyReview
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesClinical observations and studies of retrospective observer ratings point to changes in personality in persons with cognitive impairment or dementia. The timing and magnitude of such changes, however, are unclear. This study used prospective self-reported data to examine the trajectories of personality traits before and during cognitive impairment.
designLongitudinal observational cohort study. SETTING AND
participantsOlder adults from the United States in the Health and Retirement Study were assessed for cognitive impairment and completed a measure of the 5 major personality traits every 4 years from 2006 to 2020 (N = 22,611; n = 5507 with cognitive impairment; 50,786 personality and cognitive assessments).
methodsMultilevel modeling examined changes before and during cognitive impairment, accounting for demographic differences and normative age-related trajectories.
resultsBefore cognitive impairment was detected, extraversion (b = -0.10, SE = 0.02), agreeableness (b = -0.11, SE = 0.02), and conscientiousness (b = -0.12, SE = 0.02) decreased slightly; there was no significant change in neuroticism (b = 0.04, SE = 0.02) or openness (b = -0.06, SE = 0.02). During cognitive impairment, faster rates of change were found for all 5 personality traits: neuroticism (b = 0.10, SE = 0.03) increased, and extraversion (b = -0.14, SE = 0.03), openness (b = -0.15, SE = 0.03), agreeableness (b = -0.35, SE = 0.03), and conscientiousness (b = -0.34, SE = 0.03) declined. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Cognitive impairment is associated with a pattern of detrimental personality changes across the preclinical and clinical stages. Compared with the steeper rate of change during cognitive impairment, the changes were small and inconsistent before impairment, making them unlikely to be useful predictors of incident dementia. The study findings further indicate that individuals can update their personality ratings during the early stages of cognitive impairment, providing valuable information in clinical settings. The results also suggest an acceleration of personality change with the progression to dementia, which may lead to behavioral, emotional, and other psychological symptoms commonly observed in people with cognitive impairment and dementia.
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