The influence of perceptions of ageing on frailty and cognitive function

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to investigate whether perceptions of ageing influence cognition and frailty in later life. Although much experimental work has shown that priming older adults with negative stereotypes about ageing causes immediate declines in cognitive and physical function, there is a paucity of research in this area in large-scale observational studies. Even fewer studies have had the capacity to assess the relationships longitudinally. This thesis thus uses data from waves one and two of the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) to investigate the relationship between perceptions of ageing, cognitive function and physical frailty in a population-representative sample of community-dwelling older adults.