There are individual differences in the rates of cognitive decline across later adulthood. Personality traits are among the factors that may account for these differences. The current project investigated whether personality traits were associated with trajectories of cognitive decline, and whether the associations were different before and after dementia diagnosis. The data was analyzed using linear mixed effects regression. Across study aims is a focus on replicability and generalizability. Each question was addressed in four independent longitudinal studies (EAS, MAP, ROS, SATSA), then meta-analyzed, providing estimates of replicability. Results indicated that low neuroticism and high openness were associated with total cognitive function. We detected evidence for cognitive decline in all four samples, and openness was associated with decline post dementia diagnosis.

成年后期认知能力下降的速度存在个体差异。人格特质是造成这些差异的因素之一。当前的项目调查了人格特质是否与认知能力下降的轨迹相关，以及痴呆症诊断前后这种关联是否有所不同。使用线性混合效应回归分析数据。整个研究目标都注重可复制性和普遍性。每个问题都在四项独立的纵向研究（EAS、MAP、ROS、SATSA）中得到解决，然后进行荟萃分析，提供可复制性的估计。结果表明，低神经质和高开放性与总体认知功能相关。我们在所有四个样本中都发现了认知能力下降的证据，开放性与痴呆症诊断后的认知能力下降有关。