TY - JOUR
T1 - Social Relationships in Early Life and Episodic Memory in Mid- And Late Life
AU - Zhang, Zhenmei
AU - Xu, Hongwei
AU - Li, Lydia W.
AU - Liu, Jinyu
AU - Choi, Seung Won Emily
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Author(s) 2020.
PY - 2021/12/1
Y1 - 2021/12/1
N2 - Objectives: This study examines the longitudinal relationships between retrospective reports of early-life social relationships (i.e., having good friends, parent-child relationship quality, and childhood neighborhood social cohesion) and episodic memory in China. Methods: We analyzed 2 waves of data (2011 and 2015) from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. The analytical sample included 9,285 respondents aged 45 and older at baseline. A lagged dependent variable approach was used to estimate the associations between measures of early-life social relationships and episodic memory change at the study's 4-year follow-up. Results: Retrospective reports of better early-life social relationships are significantly associated with higher levels of episodic memory performance in 2015 among middle-aged and older Chinese, controlling for episodic memory in 2011, childhood socioeconomic status, adulthood sociodemographic variables, and the history of stroke. Educational attainment accounts for a significant portion of the associations between early-life social relationships and episodic memory. In contrast, mental health and social engagement in adulthood account for a small part of these associations. Discussion: The findings suggest that positive early-life social relationships are beneficial for episodic memory in mid- and late life, and more research is needed to examine the underlying mechanisms.
AB - Objectives: This study examines the longitudinal relationships between retrospective reports of early-life social relationships (i.e., having good friends, parent-child relationship quality, and childhood neighborhood social cohesion) and episodic memory in China. Methods: We analyzed 2 waves of data (2011 and 2015) from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. The analytical sample included 9,285 respondents aged 45 and older at baseline. A lagged dependent variable approach was used to estimate the associations between measures of early-life social relationships and episodic memory change at the study's 4-year follow-up. Results: Retrospective reports of better early-life social relationships are significantly associated with higher levels of episodic memory performance in 2015 among middle-aged and older Chinese, controlling for episodic memory in 2011, childhood socioeconomic status, adulthood sociodemographic variables, and the history of stroke. Educational attainment accounts for a significant portion of the associations between early-life social relationships and episodic memory. In contrast, mental health and social engagement in adulthood account for a small part of these associations. Discussion: The findings suggest that positive early-life social relationships are beneficial for episodic memory in mid- and late life, and more research is needed to examine the underlying mechanisms.
KW - Childhood
KW - China
KW - Cognition
KW - Friends
KW - Parent-child relationship
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85101601368&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/geronb/gbaa179
DO - 10.1093/geronb/gbaa179
M3 - Article
C2 - 33075811
AN - SCOPUS:85101601368
SN - 1079-5014
VL - 76
SP - 2121
EP - 2130
JO - Journals of Gerontology - Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
JF - Journals of Gerontology - Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
IS - 10
ER -