Low psychological wellbeing may raise risk of dementia, study suggests

Researchers found people who developed MCI had a faster decline in psychological wellbeing compared with people who were ‘cognitively intact’. Photograph: Tero Vesalainen/Alamy

Lacking purpose in life and having few opportunities for personal growth may increase the risk of developing mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a frequent precursor of dementia, a study suggests.

These aspects of psychological wellbeing noticeably decline two to six years before memory loss and thinking problems are diagnosed, researchers found.