Subtypes of social support availability are not differentially associated with memory: a cross-sectional analysis of the Comprehensive Cohort of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging

ABSTRACT

 This study investigated the association between subtypes of social support availability (SSA) and memory in persons aged 45 to 85 years (n = 24,719). We examined two memory outcomes using a modified Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT)–immediate recall (RAVLT I) and delayed recall (RAVLT II)–and five subtypes of SSA: affectionate, emotional/informational, positive interactions, tangible, overall. We found statistically significant and adjusted positive associations between all SSA subtypes and memory, except for positive interactions and delayed recall memory. For RAVLT I, the regression coefficients ($\hat{\beta }$s) ranged from 0.03 to 0.07; the $\hat{\beta }$s for RAVLT II ranged from 0.02 to 0.05. The differences in $\hat{\beta }$s for each SSA subtype ($\hat{\beta }$ _{RAVLT I} – $\hat{\beta }$ _{RAVLT II}) ranged from 0.00 to 0.02 (mean difference = 0.01; 95% confidence interval = −0.01 to 0.03). All effect sizes, regardless of SSA subtype or memory outcome, were small and clinically unimportant.

KEYWORDS:

• Aging
• memory
• social support
• epidemiology
• cross-sectional studies

Acknowledgments

This research was made possible using the data/biospecimens collected by the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA). Funding for the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) is provided by the Government of Canada through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) under grant reference: LSA 94473 and the Canada Foundation for Innovation. This research has been conducted using the CLSA Comprehensive v2.0, v3.1, v3.2 and v4.0 datasets, under Application Number 151115. The CLSA is led by Drs. Parminder Raina, Christina Wolfson and Susan Kirkland.

Availability of data

Researchers may access data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging by submitting a data access request. See https://www.clsa-elcv.ca/data-access for details.

Authors’ contributions

MO, CJM, and SLT conceived the study. MO, CJM, SLT, and AO designed the analysis plan. AO cleaned and analyzed the data, and wrote the manuscript. MO, CJM, and SLT reviewed the analyses and edited the manuscript for important intellectual content.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed in this manuscript are the authors’ own and do not reflect the views of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging.

Ethics approval

The University of Waterloo’s Office of Research Ethics gave ethics clearance for the study (file #21,398).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the University of Waterloo’s Network for Aging Research and the Velux Stiftung Foundation (Project #1190).