Childhood Peer Relationships and Dementia Risk in Chinese Older Adults: A Mediation Analysis

IF 3.6 3区医学 Q2 GERIATRICS & GERONTOLOGY

International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry Pub Date : 2024-11-18 DOI:10.1002/gps.70022

Zi Zhou, Haoyu Zhao

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Early-life social experiences significantly influence later-life health, yet the association between childhood peer relationships and dementia, as well as the underlying mechanisms, remains underexplored. This study aimed to investigate this association and the mediating roles of social disengagement and loneliness.

Methods

Leveraging data from 7574 adults aged ≥ 60 in the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (2011–2018), we employed marginal structural models to assess the associations between childhood peer relationships and dementia risk in later life. Inverse odds ratio weighting was used to examine the mediating roles of formal and informal social disengagement and loneliness.

Results

Individuals with deficits in childhood peer relationships had a higher risk of dementia (odds ratio [OR], 1.21; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.10–1.34) compared with those with more positive experiences. This association was partially mediated by formal social disengagement (proportion mediated, 21.44%; 95% CI, 12.20%–40.94%), loneliness (proportion mediated, 22.00%; 95% CI, 13.42%–33.82%), and their combination with informal social disengagement (proportion mediated, 41.50%; 95% CI, 30.76%–66.07%). Informal social disengagement alone did not show a significant mediating effect.

Conclusions

In this cohort study of older Chinese adults, negative childhood peer relationship experiences were associated with an elevated risk of dementia in later life. Formal social disengagement and loneliness partially mediated this association. These findings underscore the importance of fostering positive social relationships in early life and suggest potential psychosocial strategies to mitigate dementia risk in older adults due to childhood peer relationship deficits.

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中国老年人的童年同伴关系与痴呆症风险：中介分析

背景：早年的社会经历会对晚年的健康产生重大影响，但童年同伴关系与痴呆症之间的关联及其内在机制仍未得到充分探讨。本研究旨在探讨这种关联以及脱离社会和孤独的中介作用：利用中国健康与退休纵向研究（2011-2018年）中7574名年龄≥60岁的成年人的数据，我们采用边际结构模型来评估童年同伴关系与晚年痴呆风险之间的关联。我们采用反比例加权法研究了正式和非正式社会脱离与孤独的中介作用：结果：童年时期同伴关系有缺陷的人与有更多积极经历的人相比，患痴呆症的风险更高（几率比 [OR]，1.21；95% 置信区间 [CI]，1.10-1.34）。这种关联部分受到正式脱离社会（调解比例为 21.44%；95% CI，12.20%-40.94%）、孤独（调解比例为 22.00%；95% CI，13.42%-33.82%）以及它们与非正式脱离社会的组合（调解比例为 41.50%；95% CI，30.76%-66.07%）的影响。单独的非正式社会脱离并未显示出明显的中介效应：结论：在这项针对中国老年人的队列研究中，童年时期的负面同伴关系经历与晚年痴呆症风险的升高有关。正式脱离社会和孤独感在一定程度上调节了这种关联。这些发现强调了在生命早期培养积极的社会关系的重要性，并提出了潜在的社会心理策略，以降低老年人因童年同伴关系缺陷而患痴呆症的风险。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 医学-精神病学

CiteScore

6.10

自引率

2.50%

发文量

168

审稿时长

4-8 weeks

期刊介绍： The rapidly increasing world population of aged people has led to a growing need to focus attention on the problems of mental disorder in late life. The aim of the Journal is to communicate the results of original research in the causes, treatment and care of all forms of mental disorder which affect the elderly. The Journal is of interest to psychiatrists, psychologists, social scientists, nurses and others engaged in therapeutic professions, together with general neurobiological researchers. The Journal provides an international perspective on the important issue of geriatric psychiatry, and contributions are published from countries throughout the world. Topics covered include epidemiology of mental disorders in old age, clinical aetiological research, post-mortem pathological and neurochemical studies, treatment trials and evaluation of geriatric psychiatry services.