Gender differences in the mediating effects of social participation and number of children on psychological resilience and cognitive function in older adults

The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between the number of children of older adults in China and their cognitive function. A total of 15862 older adults were included in the 2017-2018 China Health and Longevity Longitudinal Survey(CLHLS), and were explored using Structural Equation Modeling(SEM) and restricted cubic splines(RCS). Research has found that social participation and psychological resilience have a moderating effect on the impact of child numbers on cognitive function, with a greater impact observed in female participants. RCS shows a U-shaped relationship between the number of children and poorer cognitive outcomes, but low fertility rates are only associated with poorer cognitive function in women. Cognitive function decreases with decreasing social participation and psychological resilience. To combat cognitive decline in older adults with multiple children, it is imperative to take into account the societal and psychological impacts and to integrate a suite of complementary intervention strategies.