TITLE INTRAINDIVIDUAL CHANGE IN LONELINESS OVER TIME PREDICTS COGNITIVE DECLINE. (11th November 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Beam, C; Greenberg, N; Burke, S
• Is Part Of: Innovation in aging. Volume 2(2018)Supplement 1
• Page Start: 117
• Page End: 117
• Publication Date: 2018-11-11
• Subjects: Aging -- Periodicals; Gerontology -- Periodicals; 612.67
• DOI: 10.1093/geroni/igy023.431
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2399-5300

Abstract

Abstract: While loneliness has been found to be correlated with cognitive ability, two issues have not been addressed in the literature. First, studies have not addressed whether stability or change in loneliness predict cognitive ability. Second, physiological mediators of effects of loneliness on cognitive ability have not been tested. We propose that physiological dysregulation mediates effects of loneliness on cognitive ability, as declines in physical health have been found to be a consequence of loneliness and a cause of cognitive ability. We hypothesized that greater stability and change in loneliness would predict lower cognitive ability. Additionally, we hypothesized that an overall (cumulative) index of biological risk would mediate effects of loneliness on cognitive ability. The current sample was drawn from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project and includes 1, 570 participants determined to be cognitively intact at baseline (female = 49.55%). We fit partially latent structural regression models to two waves of data to test effects of stability and change in loneliness on cognitive ability over time and to test whether cumulative biological risk mediated these effects. While we found that change in loneliness predicted cognitive ability, cumulative biological risk did not mediate the effect. Stable loneliness was confounded with depressive symptomatology. Cumulative biological risk did not significantly predict cognitive ability despite loneliness accounting for significant viability in cumulative biological risk. Gender differences were not observed. The current study suggests that temporal differences in loneliness but not stability of loneliness influenced cognitive ability.