The longitudinal association between social network composition and episodic memory in older adulthood: the importance of contact frequency with friends
Open accessAbstract
Objectives: The composition of one’s social network has been associated with cognition such that a greater proportion of family is associated with worse cognition compared to a greater proportion of friends. It is not clear whether this association between network composition and cognitive aging is driven by potential negative effects of family interactions or positive effects of friend interactions.Methods: Using the Health and Retirement Study (T1: 2006/2008, T2: 2010/2012, T3: 2012/2014), a longitudinal mediation model was conducted to test the effects of composition on episodic memory and latent change in memory through contact frequency with friends and family.Results: Analyses revealed indirect effects of composition on both T2 memory and latent change in memory through contact frequency with friends. A greater proportion of family in one’s network was associated with lower contact frequency with friends and in turn lower memory. Composition was also associated with higher contact frequency with family; however, contact frequency with family was not associated with memory.Conclusions: These findings suggest that spending time with family may not affect episodic memory in older adulthood, but spending time with friends may be beneficial. Potential mechanisms and implications regarding the importance of friendships in later life are discussed.
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In older adults, more complex networks-marked by irregular contact with varied social roles, frequent friend interactions but not family ones, and lower density-correlate with healthier brain volume and connectivity and better cognition.
“These effects of social bridging on the brain are consistent with recent studies indicating that greater network complexity, measured as irregular contact with a diversity of social roles, frequent interactions with friends (but not family members), and less densely connected networks are associated with healthy brain volume and connectivity, and better cognitive functioning in older adults.23–28”
From Why the cognitive ‘fountain of youth’ may be upstream: pathways to dementia risk and resilience through social connectedness (2022) · cites this paper as [28]
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- Authors
- Sharifian, N., Kraal, A. Z., Zaheed, A. B., Sol, K., & Zahodne, L. B.
- Affiliations
- University of Michigan (US)
- Corresponding author
- Sharifian, Neika
- Venue
- Aging & Mental Health
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2019-09-05
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 1789-1795
- ISSN
- 1360-7863 (ISSN-L)
- 1364-6915
- PMC
- PMC8061708
- OpenAlex
- W2972083570
- Cited by
- 34
- References
- 44
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 2
- FWCI
- 5.60
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- Aging & Mental Health (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging (R00AG047963, R01AG054520, U01AG009740)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
- Keywords
- social network composition, episodic memory, old age, cognitive aging, contact frequency, friendship, family relationships, social networks, mediation
- MeSH terms
- Cognitive Aging, Adult, Aged, Aging, Cognition, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Social Support, Friends, Social Networking, Memory, Episodic
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