The association between loneliness and cognitive decline and the roles personality traits may play

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. For example, loneliness may increase our risk of dementia but the early symptoms of dementia may also make people feel lonely. 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. For example, certain personality traits may predispose people to being lonely and this could impact their cognitive function. On the other hand, being lonely may impact cognitive function more or less, depending on a person's personality traits. For this study, we will use data from the comprehensive cohort of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA), a randomly selected sample of just over 30,000 Canadians aged 45 years and older. Detailed data on CLSA study participants includes demographic and clinical information, as well as measures of loneliness, personality and cognition. We will use data that was collected at baseline and follow-up (roughly three years later) to analyze the relationship between loneliness and cognitive change, as well as the roles personality traits may play. In our analyses, we will account for a person's social support and participation, as well as demographic and health factors. We will also test whether these relationships are different for men and women. Ultimately, understanding the relationship between loneliness and cognitive change would help to identify strategies to maintain cognitive health.