Cognitive Mediation of Social Engagement and Socioeconomic Background: SEM Exploration in Cam-CAN, a Large Adult Lifespan Database

Ageing is associated with declines in cognition, which presents challenges for maintaining social connections. In the current study, we explored the associations between domains of cognition, social engagement, and socioeconomic status (SES), separately for younger and older adults, with the aim of characterising the interactions between cognition, social engagement and SES in these age groups. Cross-sectional data from the Cambridge Centre for Ageing and Neuroscience (Cam-CAN) were analysed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modelling (SEM). Factor analyses showed that the older participant group (aged 50 years or older) had differential separation of the cognitive domains and greater complexity in associations between SES and cognition. Additionally, social engagement was reflected differently between the two groups: the factors in the Under 50 group related to who was being communicated with (family vs. friends); factors in the Over 50 group reflected how communication took place (synchronously vs asynchronously). The SEM analyses indicated that language and memory were important mediators between SES and social engagement in older adults. Younger participants (aged under 50 years) showed separate direct associations between SES and cognition and between SES and social engagement, suggesting that higher SES separately accounts for the variability in cognitive ability and social involvement. These findings demonstrate increased complexity between cognition and social interactions in the older participants in this cohort, with a reliance on specific cognitive faculties to support and maintain social engagement. It also indicates a need for age-based interventions when combating issues surrounding loneliness and social isolation, including support of cognitive development throughout early adulthood and maintenance of cognitive ability in later life.