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Personality and Psychological Health in Persons with Mild Cognitive Impairment*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2009

Francis Clément ,
Sylvie Belleville ,
Sara Bélanger  and
Véronique Chassé
Francis Clément
Affiliation:
Research Center, Institut Universitaire de Gériatre de Montréal and Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal
Sylvie Belleville*
Affiliation:
Research Center, Institut Universitaire de Gériatre de Montréal and Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal
Sara Bélanger
Affiliation:
Research Center, Institut Universitaire de Gériatre de Montréal and Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal
Véronique Chassé
Affiliation:
Research Center, Institut Universitaire de Gériatre de Montréal and Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal
*
†Correspondence to: / Correspondance à : Sylvie Belleville, Ph.D. Research Center, Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal 4565 Queen Mary, Montreal, H3W 1W5 Quebec, CANADA Tel: 514-340-3540 ext 4779 Fax: 514-340-3548 (Sylvie.belleville@umontreal.ca)
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Abstract

An increasing number of studies have documented the cognitive profile of individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), but few studies have investigated the individuals’ psychological health and personality traits or how these factors interact with cognition. In the present study, 27 healthy older adults and 30 persons with MCI completed questionnaires covering psychological health, morale, personality, self-efficacy, and self-actualization. The results indicated that individuals with MCI are more depressed, anxious, hostile, and have lower morale than matched healthy older adults. Furthermore, our results show a positive association between the level of depression of MCI persons and the severity of their cognitive dysfunctions. In contrast, there were no group differences on measures of personality traits. Thus, while psychological distress is present in persons with MCI, those individuals are not characterized by differences in personality traits relative to older adults who experience no cognitive impairment.

Résumé

Plusieurs études ont documenté le profil cognitif des individus ayant un trouble cognitif léger (TCL), mais très peu se sont intéressées à leur santé psychologique et à leurs traits de personnalité ainsi qu’aux interactions entre ces facteurs et la cognition. Dans cette étude, 27 personnes âgées saines et 30 personnes ayant un TCL ont été soumises à une évaluation neuropsychologique et ont rempli des questionnaires portant sur la santé psychologique, le bien-être, la personnalité, l’auto-efficacité et l’auto-actualisation. Les résultats indiquent que les individus ayant un TCL sont plus déprimés, anxieux, hostiles et ont moins de bien-être que ce que rapporte un groupe de personnes âgées sans trouble de cognition. De plus, nos résultats révèlent une association positive entre le niveau de dépression des personnes ayant un TCL et la sévérité de leurs atteintes cognitives. En revanche, aucune différence n’est observée entre les groupes sur les échelles de personnalité. Ainsi, alors que la détresse psychologique est présente chez les personnes ayant un TCL, celles-ci ne montrent pas de différence de traits de personnalité par rapport aux personnes âgées n’éprouvant pas de troubles cognitifs.

Keywords

maladie d’AlzheimerdépressionanxiétécognitionneuropsychologieAlzheimer’s diseasedepressionanxietycognitionneuropsychology
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 28 , Issue 2 , June 2009 , pp. 147 - 156
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2009

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Footnotes

*

The authors report no conflicts of interest. This study was supported by a grant from the REPAR/FRSQ and from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to Sylvie Belleville. Furthermore, Sylvie Belleville was supported by a Chercheur national fellowship from the Fond de la Recherche en Santé du Québec (FRSQ), Francis Clément was supported by a scholarship from the Fond Québécois de la Recherche sur la Nature et les Technologies (FQRNT); Sara Bélanger, by a doctoral scholarship from FRSQ and from the Alzheimer Society of Canada, and Véronique Chassé by a doctoral scholarship from the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR). We thank Anne Guérette and Lise Gagnon for their participation in the earlier part of this project, Dr. Serge Gauthier for referring the participants, Émilie Lepage for the neuropsychological evaluation of the participants, and Luke Henry and Janet Boseovski for editorial assistance.

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