Examining Longitudinal Relationships between Social Support and Strain in Relationships with Children and Older Adults’ Cognitive Functioning

Relationships with children are often highly salient to older adults and can be characterized by both social support and strain. Although research suggests that social support and strain are linked to older adults’ cognitive functioning, few studies have considered reciprocal effects or examined potential explanatory mechanisms. This study uses data from the Health and Retirement Study (N = 7,639) to examine longitudinal, bidirectional relationships between social support and strain in relationships with children and cognitive functioning among older U.S. adults. Results from dynamic panel models suggest that higher social support from children predicts modestly better later cognitive functioning and that strain from children is negatively linked to subsequent cognition. Older adults with higher cognitive functioning report less later strain in relationships with children. Depressive symptoms and receipt of children’s help with functional limitations play modest roles in helping to explain associations between social support and strain from children and cognitive functioning.