Dataset Information

Does Low Subjective Social Status Predict Cognitive Decline in Chinese Older Adults? A 4-Year Longitudinal Study From Hong Kong.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Subjective social status (SSS), one's self-perceived social position, encompasses not only concrete socio-economic (SES) factors (e.g., income) but also intangible aspects of status (e.g., social capital). In recent years, there has been increasing research interest in SSS as a predictor of a vast array of health outcomes but very few studies examining effects on cognitive functioning. This study's main objective was to examine the association between SSS and long-term cognitive decline in older Chinese adults.

Design

A 4-year longitudinal study.

Setting

Hong Kong, China.

Participants

Chinese adults (aged ≥65) (n = 3,153).

Measurements

This study analyzed baseline SSS-Hong Kong (self-perceived social status within Hong Kong) and SSS-Community (self-perceived status within one's own social network) as predictors of long-term cognitive decline. Multiple-linear-regression was performed on 4-year follow-up Mini-Mental-Status-Examination (MMSE) cognitive function score (score range: 0-30) after adjusting for baseline MMSE scores, traditional SES indicators (e.g., education), demographic variables (e.g., sex), clinical conditions (e.g., stroke history, depression), and lifestyle variables (e.g., physical activity levels).

Results

Lower SSS-Community but not SSS-Hong Kong was associated with greater cognitive decline (unstandardized coefficient (95% CI) = 0.13 (0.07, 0.19) standardized β-coefficient = 0.08, after adjusting for objective SES measures and other background and clinical factors. The standardized β-coefficients for the SSS-Community variable were similar in magnitude to those for depression and diabetes.

Conclusion

Cognitive decline is influenced by self-perceived rank in proximal reference groups rather than socioeconomic comparison with society at-large. SSS-Community is a useful, single-item supplementary instrument to improve prediction of cognitive decline in elderly Chinese.

SUBMITTER: Kim JH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8298609 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Does Low Subjective Social Status Predict Cognitive Decline in Chinese Older Adults? A 4-Year Longitudinal Study From Hong Kong.

Kim Jean H JH Sumerlin Timothy S TS Goggins William B WB Kwong Elizabeth M S EMS Leung Jason J Yu Blanche B Kwok Timothy C Y TCY

The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry 20210123 11

<h4>Objective</h4>Subjective social status (SSS), one's self-perceived social position, encompasses not only concrete socio-economic (SES) factors (e.g., income) but also intangible aspects of status (e.g., social capital). In recent years, there has been increasing research interest in SSS as a predictor of a vast array of health outcomes but very few studies examining effects on cognitive functioning. This study's main objective was to examine the association between SSS and long-term cognitiv ...[more]

PMID: 33563520

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Project description:BACKGROUND: With China's rapid economic growth in the past few decades, there is currently an emerging focus on happiness. Cross-cultural validity studies have indicated that the four-item Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS) has high internal consistency and stable reliability. However, the psychometric characteristics of the SHS in broader Chinese community samples are unknown. PURPOSE: We evaluated the factor structure and psychometric properties of the SHS in the Hong Kong general population. METHODS: The Chinese SHS was derived using forward-backward translation. Of the Cantonese-speaking participants aged ≥15 years, 2,635 were randomly selected from the random sample component of the FAMILY Cohort, a territory-wide cohort study in Hong Kong. In addition to the SHS, a single-item overall happiness scale, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the Family Adaptation, Partnership, Growth, Affection, Resolve (APGAR) scale, and the Medical Outcomes Study 12-item short-form version 2 (SF-12) mental and physical health scales were administered. RESULTS: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a single factor with high loadings for the four SHS items. Multiple group analyses indicated factor invariance across sex and age groups. Cronbach's alpha was 0.82, and 2-week test-retest reliability (n = 191) was 0.70. The SHS correlated significantly with single-item overall happiness (Spearman's rho [ρ] = 0.57), Family APGAR (ρ = 0.26), PHQ-9 (ρ = -0.34), and mental health-related quality of life (ρ = 0.40) but showed a lower correlation with physical health (ρ = 0.15). A regression model that included the PHQ-9 and Family APGAR scores explained 37% of the variance in SF-12 mental health scores; adding the SHS raised the variance explained to 41 %. CONCLUSIONS: Our results support the reliability and validity of the SHS as a relevant component in the measurement battery for mental well-being in a Chinese general population.

Dataset Information

Does Low Subjective Social Status Predict Cognitive Decline in Chinese Older Adults? A 4-Year Longitudinal Study From Hong Kong.

Objective

Design

Setting

Participants

Measurements

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Does Low Subjective Social Status Predict Cognitive Decline in Chinese Older Adults? A 4-Year Longitudinal Study From Hong Kong.

Similar Datasets

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