December 2, 2011 — Maintaining high or increasing levels of social interaction over time has potentially protective effects on cognitive and physical abilities in older adults, according to a new study published in the December issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.
Although previous research has documented the association between health and social engagement, study author Patricia A. Thomas, PhD, from the Population Research Center, University of Texas, Austin, sought to examine how changes in social interactions over time influence the trajectories of physical and cognitive limitations.
Using data collected from adults aged 60 years and older, the study found that those adults with high levels of social engagement had lower initial levels of cognitive limitations. Social interaction also provided a protective effect against rising levels of physical limitations.
The Americans' Changing Lives survey collected data in 1986, 1989, 1994, and 2002. Information from 1667 adults aged 60 years and older (mean age, 70 years) was included in this study.
Participants in the survey were asked about their frequency of social engagement such as visiting friends and family, volunteer activities, membership in clubs or organizations, or attending religious services. Cognitive impairment was assessed using the Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire, and the Rosow-Breslau functional scale for gross mobility was used to assess physical abilities such as climbing stairs or walking several blocks.
Most of the survey respondents were women (67.1%) and white (68.5%). More than half of the participants were married, and 22.4% were employed.
By using a person-centered approach, survey respondents were categorized into 1 of 5 distinct trajectory classes of social engagement. A traditional, variable-centered approach was then used to examine how membership in a specific trajectory class was associated with changes in physical and cognitive limitations.
The social engagement trajectory categories used were class 1, high initial levels of social engagement with a slight decrease over time; class 2, high initial levels of social engagement with a greater decrease over time; class 3, high levels of social engagement that increased slightly over time; class 4, medium levels of social engagement that increased over time; and class 5, low levels of social engagement that deceased over time.
Women were more likely to belong to the class with high, slightly decreasing social engagement, whereas men were more likely to have medium to high and slightly increasing social engagement.
Dr. Thomas found that individuals with high and slightly decreasing social engagement (class 1) experienced lower initial levels of cognitive limitations. Belonging to any of the social engagement class trajectories compared with class 5 (low, decreasing social engagement) was protective for declines in cognitive limitations, but the effect diminished over time, the study found.
Lower levels of physical limitations over time were noted across all trajectory classes (except class 2), independent of initial levels.
These results suggest a protective effect of social engagement on physical and cognitive health in older adults. Maintaining social attachments can instill a sense of purpose, increase motivation, and provide social pressure to engage in activities that improve health, notes Dr. Thomas.
Because of fluctuations in social engagement and physical and cognitive limitations during the same period, the author acknowledges that causal relationships are unclear. The quality of the social interactions was also not accounted for in this study, and it is possible that negative interactions would affect health differently.
"The links between social engagement and better health outcomes highlight the potential benefits of older adults' participation in broader social activities and may encourage older adults to maintain high levels or increase their social engagement as one of several ways to maintain better physical and cognitive health," concludes Dr. Thomas.
