Association between formal social participation and cognitive function in middle-aged and older adults: a longitudinal study using SHARE data

ABSTRACT

Formal social participation significantly impacts health and well-being, potentially mitigating cognitive decline, although not consistently across all studies. Existing research often focuses solely on baseline participation levels, and age-related differences have primarily been explored among the Asian population. Therefore, this longitudinal study aims to assess the association between formal social participation and cognition across different age groups in individuals aged 50+ living in Europe and Israel, while capturing the dynamic nature of formal social participation. We use data from three waves (four, six, and eight) of the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), comprising 85,601 respondents. Linear mixed-effects models were applied. The results show that participation in formal social activities mitigates cognitive decline in middle-aged and older adults, especially among those aged 70 to 79 and 80+. These findings support the need for social policies promoting formal social activities, for lasting cognitive health benefits.

KEYWORDS:

• Cognition
• formal social participation
• middle-aged and older adults
• survey of health, Ageing and retirement in Europe (SHARE)
• longitudinal

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the important contribution of the funding partners (see the Financial support section).

Disclosure statement

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

Supplementary data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/13825585.2024.2315769

Author contributions

CC, RM-P, and ADM conceived and designed the study. CC developed and led the research. CC performed the literature review. CC and GV analyzed the data. CC and PR discussed the results. CC wrote the manuscript and compiled the research results. CC, PR, GV, RM-P, and ADM participated in the critical review of the manuscript. RM-P and ADM supervised the study. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Data availability statement

SHARE data is available through individual user registration. All details about the application and registration process can be found at https://share-eric.eu/data/data-access.

Ethical standards

The SHARE study is subject to continuous ethical review. SHARE-ERIC activities related to human research are guided by international research ethics principles, such as the Respect Code of Practice for Socio-Economic Research and the Declaration of Helsinki. In waves 1 to 4, the SHARE study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Mannheim. Wave 4 of SHARE and the following waves were reviewed and approved by the Ethics Council of the Max Planck Society and the Ethics Councils of the participating countries.

Additional information

Funding

The SHARE data collection has been funded by the European Commission through the 5th framework program (project QLK6-CT-2001–00360 in the thematic program Quality of Life). Further support by the European Commission through the 6th framework program (projects SHARE-I3, RII-CT-2006–062193, as an Integrated Infrastructure Initiative, COMPARE, CIT5-CT-2005–028857, as a project in Priority 7, Citizens and Governance in a Knowledge Based Society, and SHARE-LIFE (CIT4-CT-2006–028812)), through the 7th framework program (SHARE-PREP (No 211,909), SHARE-LEAP (No 227,822), M4 (No 261,982), and DASISH (No 283,646); through Horizon 2020 (SHAREDEV3 (No 676,536), SERISS (No 654,221), SSHOC (No 823,782), SHARE-COHESION (No 870,628), SHARE-COVID19 (No 101,015,924), RItrain (No 654,156) and ERIC Forum (No 823,798)) and by DG Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion through VS 2015/0195, VS 2016/0135, VS 2018/0285, VS 2019/0332, VS 2020/0313, SHARE-EUCOV: GA No 101,052,589 and EUCOVII: GA No 101,102,412 is gratefully acknowledged. In Portugal, this study was financially supported by Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology through national funds (PIDDAC) and co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), through the Operational Programme PORNorte and PORLisboa, AAC No 01/SAICT/2016, Application No 022209-DATALAB. This research was also supported by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology), fellowship number 2020.07993.BD, subsided by national funds from the MCTES (The Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education) and by the European Social Fund. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection, analysis, preparation of the manuscript, or decision to publish.