Can Meaningful Activity Mediate the Relationship Between Social Support and Cognitive Health Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults?

IF 2 3区医学 Q2 GERONTOLOGY

Journal of Applied Gerontology Pub Date : 2025-09-29 DOI:10.1177/07334648251381401

Eunyoung Lee, Jaclyn M Williams

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Abstract

As the population continues to age, cognitive health becomes increasingly vital. Although social support and meaningful activities impact cognitive and psychological outcomes, how these factors are interrelated remains unclear. Using cross-sectional data from the Well Elderly II study (n = 460), this study examined (1) the effects of social support on cognitive health (measured by the Digit Symbol Substitution Test) and (2) whether engagement in meaningful activities mediates the relationship among community-dwelling older adults. After controlling for socio-demographic variables, researchers found a positive association between social support and cognitive health (β = .08, p < .05), with engagement in meaningful activities mediating this relationship (B = .57, SE = .12; 95% CI [.35, .83]). Findings suggest that practitioners should consider strategies that aid older adults in engaging in personally meaningful activities and help them find greater meaning in their existing routines, thereby strengthening the cognitive benefits of social support.

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社区居住老年人社会支持与认知健康的关系是否有意义活动的中介作用？

随着人口持续老龄化，认知健康变得越来越重要。虽然社会支持和有意义的活动影响认知和心理结果，但这些因素如何相互关联尚不清楚。本研究使用来自Well Elderly II研究（n = 460）的横断面数据，检验了(1)社会支持对认知健康的影响（通过数字符号替代测试测量）和(2)参与有意义的活动是否在社区居住老年人之间的关系中起中介作用。在控制了社会人口变量后，研究人员发现社会支持与认知健康之间存在正相关（β = 0.08, p < 0.05），参与有意义的活动在这种关系中起中介作用(B = 0.57, SE = 0.12; 95% CI[。]35岁的点)。研究结果表明，从业者应该考虑帮助老年人参与个人有意义的活动的策略，帮助他们在现有的日常生活中找到更大的意义，从而加强社会支持的认知益处。

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

Journal of Applied Gerontology GERONTOLOGY-

CiteScore

5.10

自引率

13.30%

发文量

202

期刊介绍： The Journal of Applied Gerontology (JAG) is the official journal of the Southern Gerontological Society. It features articles that focus on research applications intended to improve the quality of life of older persons or to enhance our understanding of age-related issues that will eventually lead to such outcomes. We construe application broadly and encourage contributions across a range of applications toward those foci, including interventions, methodology, policy, and theory. Manuscripts from all disciplines represented in gerontology are welcome. Because the circulation and intended audience of JAG is global, contributions from international authors are encouraged.