Social connections help to maintain mental clarity in old age

The aging population in Europe is making maintaining cognitive health one of the most important public health challenges. It has long been known that both employment and social relationships are associated with better brain function. However, it has been less studied how these factors interact with each other and whether their effects differ between genders.

The authors of a study published in the journal Research on Aging used data from the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The sample included more than 145,000 observations collected from 2011 to 2020. The researchers compared individuals who were employed, retired, unemployed, or engaged in household activities. The focus was on two cognitive measures: episodic memory (the ability to recall events) and verbal fluency (the ability to quickly generate words).

“Our goal is to understand how employment status (work, retirement, unemployment, and housekeeping) is related to cognitive function in people over 50 in Europe. For the first time, we have examined whether a strong social network has different effects on women and men,” explains Thomas Arnhold, lead author of the study from the Population and Just Societies Program at IIASA.

The results showed that a strong social network mitigates the cognitive losses associated with unemployment. However, the nature of this support varies by gender. For women, a diverse social network is particularly valuable, as it compensates for the lack of opportunities for engagement that professional activities often provide. For men, close personal connections, particularly with their spouse or partner, play a crucial role. Co-author Daniela Weber notes that unemployed men without social connections exhibited particularly low episodic memory scores, highlighting the risks of social isolation.

These findings are significant for those shaping policies to support healthy aging. In aging societies, maintaining cognitive abilities is a top priority. This means that support programs should take into account gender differences. For example, initiatives that help older women build and maintain a wide social network may be particularly beneficial. For older men, it is more important to prevent isolation and maintain close relationships.

Valeria Bordone, a professor of sociology at the University of Vienna, summarizes that social networks serve as an important source of mental stimulation when a person leaves their job. Gender is a key factor in understanding how social resources contribute to maintaining cognitive function in older age.