Association of Social Support and Cognitive Aging Modified by Sex and Relationship Type: A Prospective Investigation in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

ABSTRACT: We examined whether between-persons differences and within-person changes in levels of social support were associated with age-related cognitive decline and whether these associations varied by sex and by relationship type. Executive function and memory scores over 8 years (2002-2010) were analyzed by mixture models among 10,241 adults aged ≥50 years in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Between-persons differences and within-person changes in positive social support and negative social support were independently associated with cognitive decline in different ways according to sex and relationship type. Among men, higher-than-average positive social support from a spouse/partner was associated with slower cognitive decline (for executive function, βperson-mean×time-in-study = 0.005,

SUBMITTER: Liao J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5860624 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature