Longitudinal associations between amyloid and symptoms of depression and anxiety in subjective cognitive decline: the impact of personality characteristics

TL;DR

This study found that amyloid positivity in people with subjective cognitive decline is linked to increased depressive symptoms over time, but only in those with low neuroticism or somatization.

Contribution

The study identifies a preclinical Alzheimer’s-related depressive phenotype modulated by personality traits.

Findings

Amyloid status was not directly associated with depression or anxiety symptoms.

Neuroticism modified the link between amyloid positivity and increased GDS scores.

Somatization modified the link between amyloid positivity and increased CES-D scores.

Abstract

Depressive/anxiety symptoms are common in subjective cognitive decline (SCD) and may relate to Alzheimer’s pathology, potentially modulated by personality characteristics.

Depressive/anxiety symptoms were assessed over 4 ± 2 years in 329 SCD (88 amyloid-positive/241 amyloid-negative) using Geriatric Depression Scale-15 (GDS), Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D), and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Anxiety (HADS-A). Mixed-effects models assessed associations between amyloid status and these symptoms, with neuroticism and somatization as effect-modifiers.

Amyloid status was not directly associated with GDS, CES-D or HADS-A. However, neuroticism modified the association between amyloid status and GDS (p<0.05). In lower neuroticism, amyloid positivity was associated with GDS increase (β:0.10 ± 0.08), but not in higher neuroticism (β:-0.04 ± 0.12). Somatization modified the association between amyloid status and CES-D (p<0.05). In lower somatization, amyloid positivity was associated with CES-D increase (β:0.65 ± 0.23), but not in higher somatization (β:-0.12 ± 0.29).

Amyloid-positive individuals with lower neuroticism/somatization increased more in depressive symptoms over time, suggesting a preclinical AD-related depressive phenotype.

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