Abstract
Background: Neuroticism has been associated with adverse mental and physical health outcomes and may contribute to cognitive decline in older adulthood. The Purpose and Engagement in Everyday Life (PEEL) study examines psychological factors related to aging and cognition. This study investigated the association between neuroticism and episodic memory among adults aged 65 years and older.
Methods: A sample of 534 adults aged ≥65 years completed assessments of personality and cognition. Neuroticism was measured using the BFI-2 inventory. Episodic memory was assessed via immediate and delayed recall of a 10-word list. Linear analyses examined the association between neuroticism and total word recall, controlling for age, sex, and education.
Results: After adjusting for covariates, neuroticism was not significantly associated with episodic memory performance (12.5 ± 0.15, p = 0.24).
Conclusions: Contrary to the hypothesis, higher neuroticism was not significantly related to poorer episodic memory in this sample. Findings may reflect current sample size and demographic limitations. Ongoing recruitment aims to increase diversity and statistical power to better evaluate this relationship.
