Physiological indicators of stress and intellectual performance among anxious older adults

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the relationship between anxiety and cognitive performance in older adults. We asked 27 older adults, self-selected on the basis of their concerns about decrements in intellectual functioning, to perform a series of cognitive tasks to assess crystallized (Gc) and fluid (Gf) intellectual abilities. Volunteers also completed questionnaires concerning their beliefs about their task performance specific to each ability, as well as measures of both generalized and intellectual self-efficacy, everyday cognitive failures, and concerns about illness and aging. Cortisol was measured as an indicator of anxiety and Epstein-Barr virus levels were assessed to determine nonspecific physiological changes. Results indicated that in the self-selected ''anxious'' sample, there was a significant negative correlation between cortisol and self-efficacy related to the most difficult measure of Gf The only other significant (negative) correlation was between cortisol and generalized self-efficacy. As expected, EBV levels were not correlated with any of the performance or self-efficacy measures taken. Possible explanations of these findings are discussed as they relate to varying levels of performance and concerns about the loss of skills among older adults.