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Numeracy Skills and Self-Reported Mental Health in People Aging Well

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Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between numerical accuracy (i.e, number comprehension and mental calculation) and self-reported depression in late adulthood. Whether social context (i.e., marital status) and very early cognitive decline symptoms impacted numerical performance was also examined. Ninety-four community-dwelling elderly participants were recruited in Sardinia, an Italian island characterized by increased longevity. All participants were presented a battery of tests and questionnaires assessing general cognitive efficiency, lifestyle, perceived physical health, numeracy, metacognitive and depressive responses. Number comprehension skills, time spent for gardening, metacognitive performance, and physical health predicted 26% of variance in CES-D index. Furthermore, married participants outperformed single/widowed ones in both number comprehension and mental calculation tasks. The same pattern of results was replicated when cognitively healthy controls were contrasted with participants with some signs of cognitive decline. The assessment of numeracy skills can be very informative in order to promote mental health and life quality in late adult span.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Professor Carlo Semenza for providing the tool for assessing numerical abilities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pedagogy, Psychology, Philosophy, University of Cagliari, Via Is Mirrionis 1, 09123, Cagliari, Italy

    Maria Chiara Fastame, Cristina Manca & Maria Pietronilla Penna

  2. Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padua, Padua, Italy

    Daniela Lucangeli

  3. Department of Surgery, Medical, Molecular, and Critical Area Pathology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    Paul Kenneth Hitchcott

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  1. Maria Chiara Fastame
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  2. Cristina Manca
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  3. Maria Pietronilla Penna
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  4. Daniela Lucangeli
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  5. Paul Kenneth Hitchcott
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Correspondence to Maria Chiara Fastame.

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The authors have declared that no conflict of interest exists.

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The study was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments. Written informed consent was given by all participants prior to participation.

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Fastame, M.C., Manca, C., Penna, M.P. et al. Numeracy Skills and Self-Reported Mental Health in People Aging Well. Psychiatr Q 90, 629–635 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-019-09655-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-019-09655-y

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