Social network characteristics and cognitive functioning in ethnically diverse older adults: The role of network size and composition.

Abstract

Objectives: Social engagement has been linked to preserved cognitive functioning in later life. While social engagement is often operationalized as social network size, social networks can vary not only in size, but also in composition. Previous work has found that having a greater proportion of family in a network is associated with worse socioemotional and cognitive outcomes compared to having a greater proportion of friends. In addition, social resources may differentially affect cognition in minority groups at higher risk of cognitive impairment. Therefore, the current study aimed to examine racial/ethnic differences in the relationship between network characteristics and cognition. Method: Ethnically and racially diverse older adults from the Washington Heights-Inwood Columbia Aging Project (n ϭ 548, 60 -93 years) were used. Multiple regressions were conducted to examine the effects of ethnicity/race, size, composition, and their interaction on global cognition. Results: Analyses revealed that networks with a greater proportion of friends were associated with better global cognition than networks with a greater proportion of family. Additionally, larger social network size was only associated with better global cognition among individuals who had a greater proportion of friends in their networks. Race further moderated this effect, as it was limited to African Americans. Discussion: Overall, these findings highlight the importance of looking at both composition and size when examining the relationship between social network characteristics and global cognition. These findings suggest that friendships may be especially important and further suggest that social network characteristics and cognitive aging may be more strongly related among African Americans.

Longitudinal Associations Between Contact Frequency with Friends and with Family, Activity Engagement, and Cognitive Functioning

“…Prior cross-sectional investigations have found that having a greater portion of family within one's social network is associated with lower cognition (Li & Dong, 2018;Sharifian et al, 2019). Furthermore, having a higher number of close friends, but not children or neighbors, has been linked to better global cognition (Wang, He, & Dong, 2015).…”

“…Consistent with the cognitive reserve theory (Stern, 2002), older adults that remain actively engaged within their social networks show slower rates of cognitive decline (Béland, Zunzunegui, Alvarado, Otero, & del Ser, 2005;Zahodne et al, 2019) and have lower Alzheimer's disease and related dementia (ADRD) incidence (Amieva et al, 2010), suggestive that contact with social network members may act as a resource that promotes cognitive efficiency and compensatory processes. Recent evidence, however, suggests that relationship type matters (Sharifian, Manly, Brickman, & Zahodne, 2019;Zahodne et al, 2019). Specifically, the link between social engagement and cognition may vary dependent on whether the individual is spending time with friends or with family.…”

Positive Psychosocial Factors and Cognitive Decline in Ethnically Diverse Older Adults

“…Evidence for a prospective association between the NIH Toolbox Friendship survey and slower episodic memory decline is consistent with the growing body of literature on social relations and cognitive aging. Indeed, recent cognitive aging studies that have parsed the multidimensional construct of social relations into its potential "active ingredients" have converged on the importance of friends for maintaining episodic memory (Haslam, Cruwys, & Haslam, 2014;Sharifian, Kraal, Zaheed, Sol, & Zahodne, 2020a,b;Sharifian, Manly, Brickman, & Zahodne, 2019;Zahodne, Ajrouch, Sharifian, & Antonucci, 2019). For example, ties to a social group are more strongly associated with preserved global cognition than ties to a series of individuals (i.e., pair-based ties) among older adults in England (Haslam, Cruwys, & Haslam, 2014).…”

Association between functional social support and cognitive function in middle-aged and older adults: a protocol for a systematic review

“…9 Several distinct subtypes of functional support have been identified, including emotional, informational, tangible and affection support, as well as positive social interactions. 8 The association between structural support and cognitive function has been investigated more frequently [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] than that of functional support, but there is growing evidence for the importance of functional support [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] which may more accurately assess the level and perceived value of support available to an individual.…”