School of Health Management, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian, China.
Department of Nursing, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wannan Medical College, Wuhu, Anhui, China.
BMC Public Health. 2024 Nov 23;24(1):3257. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-20756-7.
Previous studies have documented the impact of intergenerational contact on cognitive function in Chinese adults, however, few have focused on the possible mediating pathways. This study aimed to test a hypothetical model in which functional disability and depressive symptoms mediate the association between intergenerational contact and cognitive function.
This longitudinal study included data of 3666 participants aged 45 years or older (mean age: 60.2 years) from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) from 2011 to 2015. Intergenerational contact was measured as the frequency of contact with children and categorized as frequent (≥ 1 time/week) or infrequent (< 1 time/week). Cognitive function was measured in two dimensions: episodic memory and executive function. Depressive symptoms and functional disability were assessed as continuous variables using the 10-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, Activities of Daily Living, and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scales. The mediating pathways were quantified using the SPSS PROCESS macro.
Frequent intergenerational contact correlated with a better cognitive function (coefficient: 0.73, 95%CI: 0.39 to 1.06), with plausible mediated pathways via functional disability without depressive symptoms (coefficient: 0.03, 95%CI: 0 to 0.06, proportion mediated: 4.11%), depressive symptoms without functional disability (coefficient: 0.04, 95%CI: 0.01 to 0.08, proportion mediated: 5.48%), and functional disability and depressive symptoms in a chain (coefficient: 0.01, 95%CI: 0 to 0.02, proportion mediated: 1.37%).
Functional disability and depressive symptoms may partly explain the association between intergenerational contact and cognitive function. Further research is needed to explore the mechanisms underlying the association between intergenerational contact and cognitive function.
先前的研究记录了代际接触对中国成年人认知功能的影响，但很少关注可能的中介途径。本研究旨在测试一个假设模型，即功能障碍和抑郁症状在代际接触与认知功能之间的关系中起中介作用。
这项纵向研究包括来自中国健康与退休纵向研究（CHARLS）的数据，该研究纳入了 2011 年至 2015 年间年龄在 45 岁及以上的 3666 名参与者（平均年龄：60.2 岁）。代际接触被测量为与子女接触的频率，并分为频繁（每周≥1 次）和不频繁（每周<1 次）。认知功能在两个维度上进行测量：情景记忆和执行功能。抑郁症状和功能障碍通过使用 10 项流行病学研究抑郁量表、日常生活活动和工具性日常生活活动量表作为连续变量进行评估。使用 SPSS PROCESS 宏量化中介途径。
频繁的代际接触与更好的认知功能相关（系数：0.73，95%CI：0.39 至 1.06），通过无抑郁症状的功能障碍（系数：0.03，95%CI：0 至 0.06，中介比例：4.11%）、无功能障碍的抑郁症状（系数：0.04，95%CI：0.01 至 0.08，中介比例：5.48%）和功能障碍与抑郁症状的连锁（系数：0.01，95%CI：0 至 0.02，中介比例：1.37%）存在中介途径。
功能障碍和抑郁症状可能部分解释了代际接触与认知功能之间的关系。需要进一步研究来探索代际接触与认知功能之间关系的潜在机制。
