Abstract
Aging is a natural process of life that is accompanied by declines in physical functioning and cognitive abilities. Physical frailty is an aspect of aging that is prevalent among the older adult population as it has been associated with declines in cognitive performance and is recognized as a risk factor for dementia. Psychosocial factors are also associated with aging and some, particularly sense of control, have been shown to decrease throughout the lifespan. Associations have been found between frailty and cognition, frailty and sense of control, and cognition and sense of control, yet a gap in the literature remains in understanding the interrelationship of all three factors. The current study used data from the Midlife in the United States Study (MIDUS), particularly data collected from wave 2 (MIDUS 2) and wave 3 (MIDUS 3), collected approximately 9 years apart. We investigated the relationship between physical frailty and cognition over 9 years and examined the role of sense of control as a moderator. Frailty did not predict changes in cognition and cognition did not predict changes in frailty. We found that sense of control predicted frailty at M3, however, sense of control did not moderate the relationship between frailty and cognition. Though this study did not find support for all hypotheses, the findings suggest that sense of control, an important modifiable risk factor, may influence the trajectory of frailty.