The influence of personality traits and loneliness on cognitive change in middle age and older adulthood

Loneliness has been linked to negative physical and mental health and the impact has been compared to that of obesity and smoking. Loneliness may also be associated with dementia, although it’s still not clear why. Personality traits are also tied to loneliness and heath. In fact, certain personality traits have been found to predict both loneliness and dementia. Despite the apparent link, very few studies have simultaneously considered the health impacts of personality traits and loneliness. The purpose of our study is to test the association between loneliness and cognitive change, while exploring the roles personality traits may play. Ultimately, understanding the relationship between loneliness and cognitive change would help to identify strategies to maintain cognitive health.