Longitudinal Dyadic Associations Between Loneliness and Cognition Among Older Couples in the United States

Jeffrey E. Stokes · Anyah Prasad · Adrita Barooah · Elisabeth J Stam

18 citations0/0 files storedThe Journals of Gerontology Series B

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Health disparities and outcomes Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research Aging and Gerontology Research

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Loneliness is associated with diminished health and cognition for older individuals. However, little research has examined dyadic loneliness-that is, loneliness of both partners in a relationship-and its potential consequences for cognitive functioning among both spouses, nor whether one partner's cognition may affect both partners' loneliness over time. METHODS: We analyze 3-wave dyadic Health and Retirement Study data (2010-2020; N = 1,061 dyads) to determine (a) whether loneliness predicts participants' own and/or their partners' episodic memory and verbal fluency over 8 years, and (b) whether cognitive functioning predicts older spouses' own or their partners' loneliness over the same period. RESULTS: Loneliness predicted participants' own and their partners' loneliness at follow-up, at both time points. Loneliness was also associated with own episodic memory at follow-up, but not with verbal fluency. Episodic memory and verbal fluency predicted one another over time. Neither episodic memory nor verbal fluency predicted loneliness at follow-up. Significant dyadic mediation was established such that Time 1 loneliness was linked with partner's Time 3 episodic memory via that partner's Time 2 loneliness. DISCUSSION: Lonelier older adults displayed worse trajectories of episodic memory over time, yet poor memory did not precede changes to loneliness. Further, having a lonely partner was linked with poorer episodic memory 8 years later, indicating that both one's own and-to a lesser extent-a partner's emotional well-being may be consequential for maintaining cognitive functioning with age. Associations were more clearly established with episodic memory than with verbal fluency, suggesting potential domain-specific effects of loneliness.

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References

1999Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives 1969The Handbook of Social Psychology 1981The Stress Process 2015Loneliness and Social Isolation as Risk Factors for Mortality 1996UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3): Reliability, Validity, and Factor Structure 2014Cohort Profile: the Health and Retirement Study (HRS)2009Perceived social isolation and cognition 2012Loneliness in Older Persons

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2023Life Course Religious Attendance and Cognitive Health at Midlife: Exploring Gendered Contingencies 2025Exploring the Influence of Loneliness on Well-Being in Older Couples: Dyadic and Longitudinal Perspectives 2026Close Relationships in Middle and Late Adulthood

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