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The right kind of smart: emotional intelligence’s relationship to cognitive status in community-dwelling older adults

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 January 2019

Odelyah Saad ,
Leehu Zysberg ,
Jeremia Heinik ,
Ron Ben-Itzhak  and
Anna Zisberg
Odelyah Saad*
Affiliation:
The Cheryl Spencer Department of Nursing, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Science, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel JCT—Jerusalem College of Technology, Lev Academic Center, Jerusalem, Israel
Leehu Zysberg
Affiliation:
Department of Educational Leadership and Administration, Gordon College of Education, Haifa, Israel
Jeremia Heinik
Affiliation:
Academic Center for Continuing Medical Education, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
Ron Ben-Itzhak
Affiliation:
Geriatric Service, Sourasky Medical Center, Ichilov Hospital, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel
Anna Zisberg
Affiliation:
The Cheryl Spencer Department of Nursing, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Science, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Odelyah Saad, Lev Academic Center, Campus Tal, 21 Havaad Haleumi, P.O.B. 16031, Jerusalem 91160, Israel. Email: odelyahs@gmail.com.
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Abstract

Objectives:

To examine whether emotional intelligence (EI) is associated with cognitive function (CF) in a sample of community-dwelling, non-demented elderly out-patients.

Design:

Correlational cross-sectional study.

Setting:

Two memory clinics in an urban community in central Israel.

Participants:

Individuals age 60 and older without dementia, recruited from two memory clinics (N = 151).

Measurements:

Health history was obtained from medical charts. All participants underwent tests measuring CF, basic and instrumental function, general mental ability (GMA), EI, and depression.

Results:

Mean age of the participants was 79 years (SD = 7.00) with 96 females (63.6%). Mean score for Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) was 21.62 (SD = 3.09) and for EI was 14.08 (SD = 3.30). Linear multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine associations of CF with EI while controlling for gender, age, education, GMA, and Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI). Age, education, GMA, and CCI were significant correlates of CF and accounted for 31.1% of the variance [F(7,143) = 10.8, p<0.01] in CF. EI was added in the second block and was the factor most strongly associated with CF, explaining an additional 9.1% (a total of 40.2%) of the variance in CF [F(8,142) = 13.2, p<0.01].

Conclusion:

This study is the first to show the association between EI and CF in older adults. Future prospective studies are needed to explicate the possibility of EI as a protective factor against cognitive decline.

Keywords

cognitive functionemotional intelligenceolder adults
Type
Original Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 31 , Issue 9: Issue Theme: Self-Esteem, Resilience, and Emotional Intelligence , September 2019 , pp. 1241 - 1247
Copyright
© International Psychogeriatric Association 2019 

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