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Use of Memory Compensation Strategies Is Related to Psychosocial and Health Indicators

^a Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
^b Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
^c Stockholm Gerontology Research Center, Uppsala, Sweden
^d Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

Roger A. Dixon, Department of Psychology, P-217 Biological Sciences Bldg., University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E9 Canada E-mail: rdixon{at}ualberta.ca.

Research has shown that psychosocial and health characteristics may affect older adults' cognitive performance, self-referent beliefs, and general adaptive resilience. Are such characteristics related specifically to older adults' reported efforts to compensate for memory losses? The Memory Compensation Questionnaire (MCQ) measures 5 mechanisms of everyday memory compensation as well as 2 general aspects of compensatory motivation and awareness. Correlates were derived from indicators of specific health conditions, subjective health ratings, personality, well-being, and memory self-efficacy (MSE). All measures were administered to a cross-sectional sample of 528 healthy older adults between 55 and 94 years of age from the Victoria Longitudinal Study. Specific health composites (i.e., infirmities, respiratory illness), several personality dimensions (e.g., agreeableness, neuroticism), negative affect, and low MSE were associated with more frequent use of everyday memory compensation strategies. Linking healthy older adults' cognitive resilience with individual characteristics is an important contribution to emerging conceptions of adaptation and success in late life.

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				B. J. Small, C. Hertzog, D. F. Hultsch, and R. A. Dixon Stability and Change in Adult Personality Over 6 Years: Findings From the Victoria Longitudinal Study J. Gerontol. B. Psychol. Sci. Soc. Sci., May 1, 2003; 58(3): P166 - 176. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]