ObjectiveTo investigate whether illiteracy was associated with greater risk of prevalent and incident dementia and more rapid cognitive decline among older adults with low education.MethodsAnalyses included 983 adults (≥65 years old, ≤4 years of schooling) who participated in a longitudinal community aging study. Literacy was self-reported (“Did you ever learn to read or write?”). Neuropsychological measures of memory, language, and visuospatial abilities were administered at baseline and at follow-ups (median [range] 3.49 years [0–23]). At each visit, functional, cognitive, and medical data were reviewed and a dementia diagnosis was made using standard criteria. Logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards models evaluated the association of literacy with prevalent and incident dementia, respectively, while latent growth curve models evaluated the effect of literacy on cognitive trajectories, adjusting for relevant demographic and medical covariates.ResultsIlliterate participants were almost 3 times as likely to have dementia at baseline compared to literate participants. Among those who did not have dementia at baseline, illiterate participants were twice as likely to develop dementia. While illiterate participants showed worse memory, language, and visuospatial functioning at baseline than literate participants, literacy was not associated with rate of cognitive decline.ConclusionWe found that illiteracy was independently associated with higher risk of prevalent and incident dementia, but not with a more rapid rate of cognitive decline. The independent effect of illiteracy on dementia risk may be through a lower range of cognitive function, which is closer to diagnostic thresholds for dementia than the range of literate participants.
Research on motivation to participate in physical activity has typically been characterized by an assessment of reasons for involvement at a single point in time. This study examined motives for participating, self-perceptions (perceived success, perceived basketball competence, perceived peer acceptance), and enjoyment several times during a sport season relative to player status (Le., amount of playing time). Female basketball players (N = 141) completed measures of participation motivation, perceptions of physical competence and peer acceptance, success, and enjoyment at preseason, midseason, and end of season. Players were classified as starters, primary substitutes, or secondary substitutes by their coaches based on extent of actual playing time. All athletes were similar in their reasons for participating; these included mastery, friends, team atmosphere, and fitness. However, starters and primary substitutes were higher than secondary substitutes in perceptions of success, basketball competence, peer acceptance, and enjoyment at midseason, and starters were higher than primary and secondary substitutes on perceived basketball competence at end of season. These results suggest that positive self-perceptions and affect experienced in the physical domain are related to players ’ opportunities to demonstrate competence in salient achievement areas.
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