Abstract
Older adults’ social participation and social relationship may be affected by their partners’ cognitive function. In 3,722 cognitively intact married/partnered Health and Retirement Study respondents, latent profile analysis identified three social participation profiles (Limited overall social participation (prevalence: 69%); Frequent volunteer participation (10%); Frequent non-volunteer participation (21%)), and three social relationship profiles (Social support from all relationships (68%); Mixed social support and strain from all relationships (18%); Social strain from partner with support from other relationships (14%)). Spouse/partner’s cognition was not significantly associated with social participation profiles. Impaired cognition in spouses/partners increased older adults’ likelihood of perceiving social strain from their partners with support from other relationships. Frequent volunteer and non-volunteer participation and perceiving social support from all relationships predicted better self-rated health and lower odds of depressive symptoms. These findings highlight the need of community programs that promote social connectedness for older adults living with cognitively impaired spouses/partners.
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Yuan, Y., Peng, C., Lin, Y. et al. Older adults’ social participation and social relationship and association with partner’s cognition: a latent profile analysis. China popul. dev. stud. 7, 418–437 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42379-023-00148-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42379-023-00148-x