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Title

The relation of close friends to cognitive performance in old age: the mediating role of leisure activities
Authors
Ihle, Andreas
Oris, Michel
Baeriswyl, Marie
Kliegel, Matthias
Published in International Psychogeriatrics. 2018
Abstract Background: From a conceptual point of view, close friends are an important resource for promoting activity engagement in old age. Leisure activity engagement in turn is a key predictor of cognitive performance. Empirically, it remains unclear so far whether leisure activity engagement mediates between having close friends on the one hand and cognitive performance on the other, which we investigated in a large sample of older adults. Methods: We assessed cognitive performance (Mill Hill vocabulary scale and Trail Making Test parts A and B) in 2812 older adults. Participants reported information on leisure activity engagement and close friends. Results: A larger number of leisure activities and a larger number of close friends were significantly related to better cognitive performance in the Mill Hill vocabulary scale and Trail Making Test parts A and B. A larger number of close friends was significantly related to a larger number of leisure activities. The number of leisure activities mediated more than half of the relation of the number of close friends to performance in all three cognitive measures. Conclusions: Having close friends may be helpful to stimulate and promote activity participation in old age. By enhancing individuals’ cognitive reserve this may finally preserve their cognitive performance level in old age.
Keywords Cognition — Cognitive reserve — Leisure activities — Close friends — Older adults
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Structures
Faculté de psychologie et des sciences de l'éducation / Section de psychologie
Centres et instituts / Centre interfacultaire de gérontologie et d'études des vulnérabilités
Faculté des sciences de la société / Institut de démographie et de socioéconomie
Research groups Cognitive Aging Lab (CAL)
NCCR LIVES
Project FNS: NCCR LIVES
Citation
(ISO format) 		IHLE, Andreas et al. The relation of close friends to cognitive performance in old age: the mediating role of leisure activities. In: International Psychogeriatrics, 2018. https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:107197

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Deposited on : 2018-08-23

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