Use of everyday memory strategies predicts subjective cognitive abilities across the adult lifespan

The relationship between cognitive strategy use and subjective cognitive difficulties suggests an active, compensatory process in response to experiencing difficulties. However, the available evidence tends to focus on specific age groups, and on general cognition or memory performance. Effects of strategy use are also mixed, with strategy use associated with better cognitive functioning in healthy older adults. This pre-registered study investigated whether adult age moderates the relationship between strategy use and subjective cognitive difficulties. The sample comprised 606 United Kingdom-based adults aged 18-86 years. Participants completed a survey measuring specific, everyday cognitive difficulties (i.e., attention, language, visual-perceptual ability, and visuo-spatial and verbal memory) and strategy use (generalised and memory-specific). Covariates included gender, depression, anxiety, stress, and the strategy scale not used as the predictor. Moderated regression models revealed memory-specific strategy use as a robust predictor of cognitive difficulties, but no interaction effect was observed. The relationship between memory strategies and cognition is therefore pervasive, regardless of stage in the adult lifespan.