ArticleThe journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences2023
Social Isolation, Sleep Disturbance, and Cognitive Functioning (HRS): A Longitudinal Mediation Study.
Article in The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 39 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
39 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- How loneliness and social isolation are linked to cognitive decline among older adults? A systematic review of underlying physiological and psychobehavioral mechanisms.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of physical and psychological multimorbidity on the risk of dementia: multinational prospective cohorts and a meta-analysis.BMC medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Home-Delivered Meals and Nursing Home Placement Among People With Self-Reported Dementia: A Pilot Pragmatic Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2023Trial
- Better Together: Technology-Use Gaps and Loneliness in Older Adults.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Genetic investigation of non-affective psychosis and depression as causal risk factors for dementia.BMJ mental health · 2026Article
- Immune cell subsets linking insomnia trajectories and incident cognitive impairment: a prospective cohort study.BMC medicine · 2026Article
- Sleep and daily pain intensity among Black and White dementia caregivers.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- The combined impact of social isolation and unhealthy risk score on mortality risk: a study from two prospective cohorts.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Article
- Social isolation and functional impairment trajectories in a diverse cohort of middle-aged and older adults in Northern California.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2026Observational
- Sleep duration, sleep quality, and daytime napping in relation to incident cardiometabolic multimorbidity across three national aging cohorts: a prospective, interpretable machine learning study.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Social isolation and cognitive decline in older adults: a longitudinal study across 24 countries.BMC geriatrics · 2025Article
- The relationship between social isolation, depressive symptoms and cognitive function in older adults: a longitudinal mediation study in China.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2025Article
- Association of social isolation and loneliness with incident cancer in A Population-based cohort study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Association Between Digital Isolation and Sleep Disorders in Older Adults: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Study Using National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) Data.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Western Diet and Cognitive Decline: A Hungarian Perspective-Implications for the Design of the Semmelweis Study.Nutrients · 2025Review
- Longitudinal bidirectional association between gastrointestinal disease and depression symptoms among middle-aged and older adults in China.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2025Article
- Exploring Factors Related to Social Isolation Among Older Adults in the Predementia Stage Using Ecological Momentary Assessments and Actigraphy: Machine Learning Approach.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- The relationship between social networks and subjective cognitive decline in Chinese younger older adults: the mediating effect of self-perception of aging.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Trajectories of health status and their association with rheumatoid arthritis risk: insights from a national prospective cohort study.BMC public health · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSocial isolation is prevalent and associated with dementia, yet the directionality and mechanisms are less understood. This study examined the association between social isolation and cognitive functioning and explored the mediating role of sleep disturbance on the social isolation-cognition relationship.
methodsData from 5 753 dementia-free Americans aged ≥50 of 2006 (T1), 2010 (T2), and 2014 (T3) waves of the Health and Retirement Study. Social isolation was measured by the Steptoe Social Isolation Index. Cognitive functioning was measured by the Telephone Interview of Cognitive Status. Sleep disturbance was measured with the modified Jenkins Sleep Scale. We used cross-lagged panel models to determine the associations between social isolation, sleep disturbance, and cognitive functioning.
resultsSocial isolation is significantly associated with subsequent cognitive functioning (T1 to T2: β = -0.055, standard error [SE] = 0.014, p < .001; T2 to T3: β = -0.044, SE = 0.016, p < .001). Lower cognitive functioning is significantly associated with greater subsequent social isolation (T1 to T2: β = -0.101, SE = 0.020, p < .001; T2 to T3: β = -0.058, SE = .011, p < .001). Sleep disturbance at T2 partially mediated the effect of social isolation (T1) on cognitive functioning (T3), accounting for 6.2% of the total effect (β = -0.003, SE = 0.001, p < .01).
conclusionsSocial isolation may deteriorate cognitive functioning and vice versa. The association between social isolation and cognition is partially explained by sleep disturbance.
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