ArticleBMC geriatrics2026
(In)congruence effect of chronological age and subjective age on older adults' cognitive functioning: the moderating role of social participation and cross-cultural comparisons.
Article in BMC geriatrics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundChronological age and subjective age independently predict cognitive functioning, but their nonlinear interplay and the role of social participation remain less understood, particularly across cultures. This study aimed to investigate the (in)congruence effect of chronological and subjective age on cognitive functioning in older adults, to examine the moderating role of social participation in these associations, and to explore potential cultural differences.
methodsLongitudinal data from China (N = 4,314) and the US (N = 2,097) were analyzed using polynomial regression and moderated response surface analysis.
resultsIn both samples, individuals with congruently older chronological-subjective age (i.e., both chronological and subjective age were high) exhibited poorer cognitive outcomes. Under incongruence, cognitive functioning varied systematically depending on the relative discrepancy between chronological and subjective age, such that better outcomes were observed when chronological age was lower than subjective age compared to the opposite condition. In the Chinese sample, relatively younger subjective age was associated with more favorable cognitive outcomes, particularly among individuals with higher chronological age, whereas this pattern was not observed in the US sample. Moreover, social participation in the Chinese sample attenuated the negative congruence effect associated with older chronological-subjective age. It further altered the incongruence effect, such that a localized advantage of relatively younger subjective age was observed under low social participation, whereas no clear advantage was observed under high social participation, which was characterized by more complex nonlinear patterns. In contrast, no moderating effect of social participation was found in the US sample.
conclusionsThese findings provide novel evidence for the interactive effects of objective and subjective age, psychosocial resources, and cultural context on cognitive aging, highlighting the potential importance of age perceptions and social participation in cognitive aging.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.