Subjective Memory in Older African Americans.

ANALYSIS of variance; BLACK people; LOCUS of control; MEMORY in old age; PSYCHOLOGICAL tests; REGRESSION analysis; RESEARCH funding; T-test (Statistics); WELL-being

The current analysis examined (a) if measures of psychological well-being predict subjective memory, and (b) if subjective memory is consistent with actual memory. Five hundred seventy-nine older African Americans from the Baltimore Study of Black Aging completed measures assessing subjective memory, depressive symptomatology, perceived stress, locus of control, and verbal and working memory. Higher levels of perceived stress and greater externalized locus of control predicted poorer subjective memory, but subjective memory did not predict objective verbal or working memory. Results suggest that subjective memory is influenced by aspects of psychological well-being but is unrelated to objective memory in older African Americans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]