Department of Psychology and Psychotherapy, Dankook University, Cheonan, Korea.
Psychogeriatrics. 2021 May;21(3):350-358. doi: 10.1111/psyg.12674. Epub 2021 Mar 9.
This study aimed to verify the reciprocal relationship between social activity, depressive symptoms, and cognitive function in Korean elderly, utilizing data from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (conducted by the Korea Employment Information Service biennially from 2006 to 2018).
The data of 5549 people aged 60 and over (mean age 70.27 years, standard deviation = 7.26) were used in the final analysis. Autoregressive cross-lagged analysis was used to examine bidirectional relationships between the variables over time. Frequency of participation in social activities, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, and the Korean version of the Mini-Mental State Examination were used to measure social activity, depressive symptoms, and cognitive function.
Results of the analysis were as follows. First, social activity was found to have a negative effect on depressive symptoms over time, but depressive symptoms did not affect social activity. Second, a bidirectional relationship between depressive symptoms and cognitive function was identified. In other words, more depressive symptoms were related to lower cognitive function, and cognitive function had a negative impact on depressive symptoms over time. Third, social activity was found to positively affect cognitive function, but cognitive function did not affect social activity over time.
The results of this study indicate that social activity is closely related to depressive symptoms and cognitive function in the elderly, and suggests that social activity can be a key preventive factor for depression and cognitive impairment in this population.
本研究旨在利用韩国就业信息服务公司（Korea Employment Information Service）从 2006 年至 2018 年每两年进行一次的韩国老龄化纵向研究（Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging）的数据，验证韩国老年人社会活动、抑郁症状和认知功能之间的相互关系。
本研究最终分析了 5549 名 60 岁及以上人群（平均年龄 70.27 岁，标准差=7.26）的数据。采用自回归交叉滞后分析来检验变量随时间的双向关系。社会活动频率、流行病学研究中心抑郁量表（Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale）和韩国版简易精神状态检查（Korean version of the Mini-Mental State Examination）用于测量社会活动、抑郁症状和认知功能。
分析结果如下。首先，社会活动随时间推移对抑郁症状有负面影响，但抑郁症状不会影响社会活动。其次，抑郁症状和认知功能之间存在双向关系。也就是说，更多的抑郁症状与较低的认知功能相关，而认知功能随时间推移对抑郁症状有负面影响。第三，社会活动对认知功能有积极影响，但认知功能随时间推移不会影响社会活动。
本研究结果表明，社会活动与老年人的抑郁症状和认知功能密切相关，提示社会活动可能是该人群预防抑郁和认知障碍的关键因素。
