Memory Performance and Affect: Are there Gender Differences in Community-Residing Older Adults?

Abstract

After age 65, the incidence of episodic memory decline in males is greater than in females. We explored the influence of anxiety and depression on objective and subjective memory performance in a diverse sample of community-residing older adults. The study was a secondary analysis of data on three samples of adults from two states, Ohio and Texas: a community sample (n = 177); a retirement community sample (n = 97); and the SeniorWISE Study (n = 265). The sample of 529 adults was 74% female, the average age was 76.58 years (range = 59-100 years), and educational attainment was 13.12 years (±3.68); 68% were Caucasian, and 17% had depressive symptoms. We found no memory performance differences by gender. Males and females were similarly classified into the four memory performance groups, with almost half of each gender in the poor memory category. Even though males had greater years of education, they used fewer compensatory memory strategies. The observed gender differences in memory were subjective evaluations, specifically metamemory. Age was not a significant predictor of cognition or memory performance, nor did males have greater memory impairment than females.

Influence of sex differences in interpreting learning and memory within a clinical sample of older adults

“…Prior studies have found evidence that hippocampal volumes, adjusted for total brain volume, are larger in women than men as they age (Braden et al, 2016;Jack et al, 2015). There is also evidence that women may utilize both internal and external memory strategies to a greater extent than men, which has been put forth as an explanation for the observed sex differences in memory, at least in healthy older adults (Kramer, Delis, & Daniel, 1988;McDougall, Pituch, Stanton, & Chang, 2014;Sunderaraman, Blumen, DeMatteo, Apa, & Cosentino, 2013). Future studies within our clinical sample aim to examine differences in hippocampal volumes as well as learning and memory strategies, specifically semantic clustering, and their relationships to the observed sex differences in verbal learning and memory.…”

Systematic Review of Correlates of Internal and External Memory Strategy Use in Older Adults

“…Higher general cognitive ability was weakly associated with more IMS and EMS ( rs = .14–.30; McDougall et al, 2014; Raimo et al, 2016). In a nursing home sample, individuals with the lowest general cognitive ability reported more IMS than those who scored higher (McDougall, 1995b).…”

“…All six studies were cross-sectional, though one study (Hertzog, Small et al 2019) also reported longitudinal data. Women reported more frequent IMS in two studies (rs = À.14 to À.18; de Frias et al, 2003;Hertzog, Small et al 2019), while three others found no relationship (rs < .09; ds < .20; de Frias, 2014;McDougall et al, 2014;Ponds & Jolles, 1996). More consistently, women reported more frequent EMS (rs = À.12 to À.28; ds = .34 to .44; de Frias, 2014;de Frias et al, 2003;McDougall et al, 2014;Ponds & Jolles, 1996).…”

“…Women reported more frequent IMS in two studies (rs = À.14 to À.18; de Frias et al, 2003;Hertzog, Small et al 2019), while three others found no relationship (rs < .09; ds < .20; de Frias, 2014;McDougall et al, 2014;Ponds & Jolles, 1996). More consistently, women reported more frequent EMS (rs = À.12 to À.28; ds = .34 to .44; de Frias, 2014;de Frias et al, 2003;McDougall et al, 2014;Ponds & Jolles, 1996). Hertzog, Small et al 2019 did not find period or cohort effects for either IMS or EMS, but Dixon et al (2001) reported an interaction between age and gender, with older men reporting more EMS than younger men, but no differences for females across age groups.…”

“…The relationship between memory performance and EMS was mixed. Higher memory performance was weakly related to more EMS in a clinical sample (r = .13;McDougall et al, 2014); however, these constructs were not related in other clinical and non-clinical samples (rs < .09 with exception of one task r = À.17; Garrett et al, 2010;Lin et al, 2020). In the 6-year follow-up study described above (Dixon & de Frias, 2004), there were no differences in EMS based on memory performance at baseline, but those with better memory performance at Time 1 demonstrated an overall increase in use of EMS over 6 years (see limitation above).…”