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Cited by 119Dementia and Cognitive Impairment ResearchAging, Health, and DisabilityHealth disparities and outcomes

Boredom-proneness, loneliness, social engagement and depression and their association with cognitive function in older people: A population study

Conroy, Ronán M., Golden, Jeannette, Jeffares, Isabelle, O'Neill, Desmond, McGee, Hannah·2010·Psychology, Health & Medicine
DOI 10.1080/13548506.2010.487103
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Abstract

In this study, we use data from a population survey of persons aged 65 and over living in the Irish Republic to examine the relationship of cognitive impairment, assessed using the Abbreviated Mental Test, with loneliness, boredom-proneness, social relations, and depression. Participants were randomly selected community-dwelling Irish people aged 65+ years. An Abbreviated Mental Test score of 8 or 9 out of 10 was classified as 'low normal', and a score of less than 8 as 'possible cognitive impairment'. We used clustering around latent variables analysis (CLV) to identify families of variables associated with reduced cognitive function. The overall prevalence of possible cognitive impairment was 14.7% (95% CI 12.4-17.3%). Low normal scores had a prevalence of 30.5% (95% CI 27.2-33.7%). CLV analysis identified three groups of predictors: 'Low social support' (widowed, living alone, low social support), 'personal cognitive reserve' (low social activity, no leisure exercise, never having married, loneliness and boredom-proneness), and 'sociodemographic cognitive reserve' (primary education, rural domicile). In multivariate analysis, both cognitive reserve clusters, but not social support, were independently associated with cognitive function. Loneliness and boredom-proneness are associated with reduced cognitive function in older age, and cluster with other factors associated with cognitive reserve. Both may have a common underlying mechanism in the failure to select and maintain attention on particular features of the social environment (loneliness) or the non-social environment (boredom-proneness).

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  • Low engagement in social activity has been associated with poor cognitive outcomes.

    “Social isolation (DiNapoli, Wu, & Scogin, 2014;Shankar, Hamer, McMunn, & Steptoe, 2013), feelings of loneliness (Conroy, Golden, Jeffares, O'Neill, & McGee, 2010;Ellwardt, Aartsen, Deeg, & Steverink, 2013;Fung, Leung, & Lam, 2011;Gerst-Emerson, Shovali, & Markides, 2014;Gow et al., 2013;O'Luanaigh et al., 2012;Shankar et al., 2013;Tilvis et al., 2004), and low engagement in social activity (Barnes”

    From Living alone and cognitive function in later life (2019) · cites this paper as Conroy et al., 2010

  • Other studies have found no association between living alone and poorer scores on measures of global cognitive function, memory, IQ, verbal fluency, and numeracy.

    “Other studies have found no association between living alone and poorer scores on measures of global cognitive function (Conroy et al., 2010;Gow et al., 2013;Mahoney, Eisner, Havighurst, Gray, & Palta, 2000;Wang, He, & Dong, 2015;Yeh & Liu, 2003), memory, IQ (Gow et al., 2013), verbal fluency, and numeracy (Mazzuco et al., 2016).”

    From Living alone and cognitive function in later life (2019) · cites this paper as Conroy et al., 2010

  • Feelings of loneliness have been associated with poor cognitive outcomes.

    “Social isolation (DiNapoli, Wu, & Scogin, 2014;Shankar, Hamer, McMunn, & Steptoe, 2013), feelings of loneliness (Conroy, Golden, Jeffares, O'Neill, & McGee, 2010;Ellwardt, Aartsen, Deeg, & Steverink, 2013;Fung, Leung, & Lam, 2011;Gerst-Emerson, Shovali, & Markides, 2014;Gow et al., 2013;O'Luanaigh et al., 2012;Shankar et al., 2013;Tilvis et al., 2004), and low engagement in social activity (Barnes”

    From Living alone and cognitive function in later life (2019) · cites this paper as Conroy et al., 2010

  • Most studies of living alone and cognitive function have been cross-sectional.

    “Most of these studies have been crosssectional (Conroy et al., 2010;Gow et al., 2007Gow et al., , 2013;;Wang et al., 2015;Yeh & Liu, 2003).”

    From Living alone and cognitive function in later life (2019) · cites this paper as Conroy et al., 2010

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Authors
Conroy, R. M., Golden, J., Jeffares, I., O'Neill, D., & McGee, H.
Affiliations
  • Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (IE)
  • St. James's Hospital (IE)
Corresponding author
Conroy, Ronán M.
ORCID
Venue
Psychology, Health & Medicine
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Published
2010-07-30
Volume
15
Issue
4
Pages
463-473
ISSN
  • 1354-8506 (ISSN-L)
  • 1465-3966
DOI
10.1080/13548506.2010.487103
OpenAlex
W2122122907
Cited by
119
References
37
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 3
FWCI
3.27
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Psychology Health & Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Aging, Health, and Disability
  • Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
Keywords
boredom proneness, loneliness, social engagement, depression, cognitive impairment, cognitive function, older adults, cognitive reserve, social support, interpersonal relationships, attention, community-dwelling older adults
MeSH terms
Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aging, Boredom, Cognition Disorders, Depression, Female, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Interviews as Topic, Ireland, Loneliness, Male, Surveys and Questionnaires, Social Support

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