Early Cognitive Decline and Its Impact On Spouse’s Loneliness

Abstract

Loneliness is common in dementia caregivers as cognitive impairment (CI) alters marital and social relationships. Unexplored is how an individual’s loneliness is affected at earlier, more ambiguous, periods of their spouse’s CI. Using the Health and Retirement Study, our study participants included 2,206 coupled individuals with normal cognitive function at the 2006/8 baseline. Loneliness outcomes at baseline, 4-year, and 8-year follow-up are assessed by the status of transition to cognitive impairment no dementia (TCIND) (2010/12 & 2014/16) using linear mixed models. Individual’s loneliness was stable when their spouse’s cognition remained normal, but increased with the spouse’s TCIND. The increase in loneliness did not vary by gender. Loneliness, a key risk factor for reduced life quality and increased depression, increases even at early stages of a partner’s CIND. This work suggests the potential impact of early intervention and social support for partners of individuals with CIND.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

Support for this work was provided by the Michigan Center for Contextual Factors in Alzheimer’s Disease (MCCFAD) [P30 AG059300-01]. This research was partly supported by awards from the National Institute on Aging [K01AG056557 for Leggett, R03AG054705-01A1 for Chopik, K01AG057820 for Choi, and R01AG061118 for Liu].