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Quality of connections counts: Social relationships and global cognition in the Sydney Memory and Ageing Study
Author(s) -
Casey AnneNicole S,
Kochan Nicole A,
Crawford John D,
Sachdev Perminder S,
Brodaty Henry
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1002/alz.044192
Subject(s) - psychology , cognition , quality of life (healthcare) , episodic memory , neuropsychology , longitudinal study , cognitive decline , social cognition , gerontology , cohort , clinical psychology , medicine , dementia , psychiatry , disease , pathology , psychotherapist
Background Social relationships create and emerge from social networks, which in turn promote social engagement and support (Berkman et al., 2000). Adults may focus on fewer and better relationships in older age (Carstensen and Scheibe, 2009). Yet meta‐analyses report that larger, supportive networks are protective for cognitive health (Penninkilampi et al., 2018). Health‐related Quality of Life (HRQoL) includes perceptions of social relationship quality and is positively associated with cognitive function (Wlodarczyk et al., 2004). We examined longitudinal association of perceived quality of social relationships with global cognition, controlling for common demographic and health factors. Method Data were collected at 2‐year intervals across six years in the Sydney Memory and Ageing Study, an ongoing prospective longitudinal cohort study (Sachdev et al., 2010). Participants enrolled at baseline were 1037 cognitively healthy community volunteers recruited from the Electoral Roll. Comprehensive neuropsychological assessment included 10 tests from 5 cognitive domains (Attention/ Processing Speed, Executive, Visuospatial, Verbal Memory, Memory). Global cognition scores for each wave were calculated as the average of cognitive domain scores. Perceived relationship quality was assessed using relationship dimension scores from the Assessment of Quality of Life (AQoL‐6D: Richardson et al, 2012). The association of social relationship quality with global cognition was examined using mixed linear regression models. Covariates were age, sex, years of education, ApoE4 status, NEO‐FFI Neuroticism score (Costa and McCrae, 1992), Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) score (Sheikh and Yesavage, 1986), number of medical conditions, number of mental activities, social network size as number of friends/relatives contacted at least monthly, and minutes of weekly vigorous physical exercise. Result Without covariates included, the association of relationship quality with global cognition was highly significant (B=0.08, p<0.0005). With covariates included, the strength of association approximately halved (B=0.04, p=0.037) indicating that these factors were influential. Social network size and number of medical conditions were not associated with cognition in the model. Conclusion Better perceived quality of social relationships, not network size, was associated with better cognition across six years in this study. The connections between social relationships and brain ageing are complex. Meaningful interpretation of these connections may require more nuanced measures of socialisation.