Interaction of physio-medical and psychosocial variables in age-related functional impairments

Frequency of social interaction was studied in a group of twenty-five veterans who were temporary residents on a VA Nursing Home Care Unit. Serial learning tasks with a 4 sec. and 10 sec. exposure period and simple and choice reaction time tasks were also studied. At the conclusion of testing, attitudes toward aging, life satisfaction, and physical and mental impairment were assessed. "Social Activity" was positively correlated with each of four measures of serial learning, but was uncorrelated with either choice or simple reaction time. "Social Activity" was also correlated with more positive attitudes toward aging and with increased life satisfaction. However, certain aspects of physical and mental impairment were also related to task performance and level of social activity, suggesting that the psychosocial-behavior relationships observed may be partly mediated by a third factor, that is, the health status of the participant.