Older Adult Social Participation and Cognition: Illustrating Survey and Measurement Heterogeneity Across Studies

An exciting line of recent research has found positive associations between older adult social participation and cognitive functioning. Unfortunately, differences in the way social participation is surveyed and measured have limited the generalizability of these results. In this study, we perform a cross-study comprehensive examination of older adult social participation using three large nationally representative U.S. surveys of older adults (Health and Retirement Study; National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project; National Health and Aging Trends Study). We first contrast the phrasing of social participation survey questions and their frequency categories, demonstrating its impact on descriptive statistics and correlation coefficients. Then, we use mixed effects regressions to test for associations between social participation and cognition. We find conflicting evidence that various social activities are associated with cognition, with volunteering and organized group membership having the most consistent positive associations. We also describe how survey heterogeneity likely contributes to disparate results.