TOPLINE:
Depression and loneliness predicted memory decline over time in older adults, while memory decline worsened mood symptoms, according to a new study that highlighted a bidirectional link among these variables.
METHODOLOGY:
- Researchers aimed to study longitudinal relationships among immediate memory, depressive symptomatology, and loneliness, while controlling for age and the number of chronic diseases.
- The analysis included 64,887 participants aged 50 years or older (mean age, 66.68 years; 55.4% women) from three consecutive waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe project across 15 countries.
- Depressive symptoms, loneliness, and immediate memory were assessed using the European Union Depression scale, Three-Item Loneliness Scale, and 10-word recall test, respectively.
TAKEAWAY:
- The three variables showed small to medium feedback effects over time.
- Immediate memory was significantly negatively correlated with both depressive symptomatology and loneliness, whereas depression and loneliness were positively correlated with each other at each timepoint.
- Immediate memory was negatively affected by both depression and loneliness in the previous wave with small effect sizes.
- Age and the number of chronic diseases negatively affected immediate memory and positively affected depression and loneliness, with the strongest effects observed with age on memory and the number of diseases on depression.
IN PRACTICE:
“Although the effect sizes are small to medium, depressive symptomatology and loneliness are risk factors for cognitive functioning,” the authors wrote. “Poor cognitive functioning is a risk factor for worsening depressive symptomatology and loneliness,” they added. “Therefore, future interventions aimed at improving cognitive function should alleviate depressive symptoms, but also feelings of loneliness,” they concluded.
SOURCE:
This study was led by Mireia Abella, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain. It was published online on April 17 in Aging & Mental Health.
LIMITATIONS:
This study was limited by the short study duration, low reliability of the scales used, and omission of factors like marital status, health behaviours, sex, and geographical location in the analysis. The research focused on depressive symptomatology rather than major depressive disorder diagnosis. Immediate memory was used as an indicator of cognitive impairment, which may have been limited. The loneliness assessment consisted of only three items.
DISCLOSURES:
One author reported receiving a grant from various sources. The authors reported having no relevant conflicts of interest.
This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
