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How does fear of dementia impact one’s lifetime risk for developing dementia?
Francesca Farina, Ph.D.
College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin
Dublin, Ireland
Background
Studies have shown that fear can be the major driving factor of stigmas associated with Alzheimer’s and other dementia, the most feared diseases associated with aging. Research shows that experiencing prolonged fear about dementia may impact cognition and overall quality of life for middle-aged adults. However, the impact of fear in individuals with healthy cognitive and lifestyle behaviors such as social engagement, which protect against dementia, is less understood.
Research Plan
For this project, Dr. Francesca Farina and colleagues will leverage datasets from the ongoing PREVENT Dementia consortium which contains cognitive, lifestyle, and biomarker data. This dataset also includes newly collected fear data, from middle-aged adults across Ireland and the United Kingdom to study the relationship between mid-life risk factors for developing dementia later in life. The researchers will recruit 150 individuals to study the association between fear of dementia and psychosocial behaviors such as memory loss, social isolation, and loneliness in cognitively unimpaired middle-aged adults. Further, Dr. Farina and the team will study the impact of dementia risk factors such as family history and brain injury on the association between fear of dementia and psychosocial behaviors.
Impact
The study results may provide important insights into how fear of dementia impacts one’s risk of developing dementia later in life and may aid in the development of strategies to modify these risk factors.
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