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Depressive symptoms and cognitive decline in mid and late life: is there a temporal relationship and is it mediated by lifestyle?

Desai, Roopal; (2018) Depressive symptoms and cognitive decline in mid and late life: is there a temporal relationship and is it mediated by lifestyle? Doctoral thesis (D.Clin.Psy), UCL (University College London). Green open access

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Abstract

Part 1 is a systematic literature review and meta-analyses on living alone and risk of incident dementia pooling results from 9 longitudinal cohort studies. The overall model was too heterogeneous for meaningful interpretation. Sub-group analysis found that in Europe there was evidence of an elevated risk of living alone and dementia. The Asian sub-group of studies were too heterogeneous to interpret. In Europe living alone may be a proxy measure of general social relationships. Establishing who lives alone may be useful in clinical settings as a quick way to assess elevated risk of dementia from social isolation. Part 2 is an empirical study examining the temporal relationship between depressive symptoms and cognitive decline and if the relationship is mediated by lifestyle. Cross-lag analysis was used to assess if depressive symptoms were a psychological reaction to, a risk factor for, or prodrome of, cognitive decline. Depressive symptoms may be either a risk factor or prodrome for decline in the cognitive domains of memory, verbal reasoning, spatial working memory and digit span. In addition, decline in executive function and attention may impact on daily life thereby causing distress. There was no evidence that the relationship was mediated by lifestyle. Clinical implications and implications for further research are discussed. Part 3 is a critical appraisal of the empirical study and literature review. Reflections include working on an external project using secondary data and the time consuming nature of conducting literature reviews.

Type: Thesis (Doctoral)
Qualification: D.Clin.Psy
Title: Depressive symptoms and cognitive decline in mid and late life: is there a temporal relationship and is it mediated by lifestyle?
Event: UCL (University College London)
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Language: English
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Clinical, Edu and Hlth Psychology
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10056252
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