The Moderating Roles of Social Support, Coping Resources and Personality and Mediating Role of Self-esteem on the Impact of Cognitive Deficit on Neuropsychiatric Symptoms Among Persons With Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Mixed-method Sequential Explanatory Design

The primary aim of this study is to test the hypothesized model that explores the moderating roles of neurotic personality, social support and coping style, as well as the mediating role of self-esteem in the relationship between cognitive deficit and NPS. This study will also examine the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of MBI-C. Specifically, the four objectives of this study are as follows: 1. To examine the relationship between cognitive deficit (subjective and objective) and NPS 2. To examine the moderating roles of the neurotic trait (neuroticism) and coping resources (coping style and social support), as well as the mediating role of self-esteem in the relationship between cognitive deficit and NPS 3. To explore the life experience of PwMCI that help to determine how these factors moderate/ mediate the relationship between cognitive deficit and NPS 4. To examine the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of MBI-C among PwMCI in Hong Kong This sequential mixed study will be conducted in two non-governmental organization in Hong Kong. For the first and second objective, a descriptive, cross-sectional, correlational approach will be adopted to test the hypothesized models with seven hypotheses of the relationship between cognitive deficit (subject and objective) and NPS. The moderating roles of personality trait (neuroticism) and coping resources (coping styles and social support), as well as the mediating role of self-esteem in such a relationship, will also be explored. For the third objective, semi-structured interviews will be adopted to explore the life experience of PwMCI, which help understanding how the proposed factors mediate or moderate the relationship between compromised abilities and NPS. For the fourth objective, the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of MBI-C will be examined and reported. Internal consistency, 2-week test-retest reliability, factorial validity, concurrent validity and convergent validity will be assessed.