Why is cognitive ability associated with psychological distress and wellbeing? Exploring psychological, biological, and social mechanisms

This study examined whether associations between cognitive ability and mental health (depression, anxiety, and psychological wellbeing) could be accounted for by different categories of risk factors: socioeconomic status, engagement in pleasant activities, coping/appraisal, social relationships, bio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Personality and individual differences 2022-07, Vol.192, p.111592, Article 111592
Main Author: Jokela, Markus
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anxiety
Appraisal
Cognitive ability
Cognitive-behavioral factors
Coping
Cortisol
Depression
Inflammation
Intelligence
Life satisfaction
Mechanism
Mental depression
Mental health
Midlife
MIDUS
Positive emotions
Psychological distress
Psychological well being
Reaction time
Risk factors
Social mechanisms
Social relations
Socioeconomic factors
Socioeconomic status
Wellbeing
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Summary:This study examined whether associations between cognitive ability and mental health (depression, anxiety, and psychological wellbeing) could be accounted for by different categories of risk factors: socioeconomic status, engagement in pleasant activities, coping/appraisal, social relationships, biological risk factors (inflammation, cortisol, heart-rate variability), and reaction time. Participants were from the Midlife in the United States study (n = 1744; mean age = 54, range 25 to 84). Adjusting for social relationships, biological risk factors, or reaction time had almost no influence on the association between cognitive ability and mental health. Adjusting for engagement in pleasant activities attenuated the associations with depression and anxiety by one-fourth; adjusting for coping/appraisal by one-third; and adjusting for socioeconomic status by one-fifth. These attenuations were larger for the associations with positive affect and life satisfaction. These findings suggest that the association between cognitive ability and mental health may be partly explained by cognitive-behavioral mechanisms and the protective influence of socioeconomic status. •Multiple mechanisms may explain why cognitive ability is related to better mental health.•Socioeconomic status, engagement in pleasant daily activities, and adaptive coping styles were most important.•Biomarkers and social relationships did not account for the associations of cognitive ability.
ISSN:0191-8869
1873-3549
DOI:10.1016/j.paid.2022.111592