Life’s Purpose and Social Support: Keys To Promote Cognitive Functioning of Middle-aged Adults in Pakistan

IF 1 Q4 GERONTOLOGY

Ageing International Pub Date : 2025-04-14 DOI:10.1007/s12126-025-09599-8

Tehreem Sarfraz, Tehreem Arshad

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

With an increase in the aging population, successful aging has become a worldwide requirement. Healthy cognitive functioning is an essential element of successful aging. Therefore, the present study intended to examine the influence of perceived social support and life purpose on cognitive functioning. The present study has employed a correlational research design. The sample comprised 140 middle-aged adults (ages 35 to 55 years) who were recruited through the purposive sampling technique. Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Purpose in Life scale and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) were used as assessment measures. Findings indicated that cognitive functioning has a significant positive relationship with life purpose and perceived social support. Furthermore, purpose in life and family and friends support found to explain the significant amount of variance in cognitive functioning even after controlling for the effects of age and education of the participants. To conclude, a higher sense of purpose in life and perceived social support tend to protect cognitive functioning in middle age. Therefore, the present study findings have implicated a practical way for healthcare providers for the prevention of cognitive impairment and promotion of successful aging.

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生活目的与社会支持：促进巴基斯坦中年人认知功能的关键

随着人口老龄化的加剧，成功的老龄化已成为世界范围内的要求。健康的认知功能是成功衰老的基本要素。因此，本研究旨在探讨感知社会支持和生活目的对认知功能的影响。本研究采用相关研究设计。样本包括140名中年人（35至55岁），他们是通过有目的抽样技术招募的。采用蒙特利尔认知评估量表（MoCA）、生活目的量表和感知社会支持多维量表（MSPSS）作为评估手段。研究结果表明，认知功能与生活目的、感知社会支持存在显著正相关。此外，即使在控制了参与者的年龄和教育程度的影响之后，生活目标和家庭和朋友的支持也可以解释认知功能的显著差异。综上所述，较高的生活目标感和感知到的社会支持倾向于保护中年的认知功能。因此，目前的研究结果为医疗保健提供者提供了预防认知障碍和促进成功衰老的实用方法。

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

Ageing International GERONTOLOGY-

CiteScore

2.70

自引率

6.70%

发文量

期刊介绍： As a quarterly peer-reviewed journal that has existed for over three decades, Ageing International serves all professionals who deal with complex ageing issues. The journal is dedicated to improving the life of ageing populations worldwide through providing an intellectual forum for communicating common concerns, exchanging analyses and discoveries in scientific research, crystallizing significant issues, and offering recommendations in ageing-related service delivery and policy making. Besides encouraging the submission of high-quality research and review papers, Ageing International seeks to bring together researchers, policy analysts, and service program administrators who are committed to reducing the ''implementation gap'' between good science and effective service, between evidence-based protocol and culturally suitable programs, and between unique innovative solutions and generalizable policies. For significant issues that are common across countries, Ageing International will organize special forums for scholars and investigators from different disciplines to present their regional perspectives as well as to provide more comprehensive analysis. The editors strongly believe that such discourse has the potential to foster a wide range of coordinated efforts that will lead to improvements in the quality of life of older persons worldwide. Abstracted and Indexed in: ABI/INFORM, Academic OneFile, Academic Search, CSA/Proquest, Current Abstracts, EBSCO, Ergonomics Abstracts, Expanded Academic, Gale, Google Scholar, Health Reference Center Academic, OCLC, PsychINFO, PsyARTICLES, SCOPUS, Social Science Abstracts, and Summon by Serial Solutions.