Nelson Christi L, Revell Andrew J
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, North Dartmouth, USA.
2The Ora M. DeJesus Gerontology Center, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, United States.
Sage Open Aging. 2025 Jul 8;11:30495334251352906. doi: 10.1177/30495334251352906. eCollection 2025 Jan-Dec.
This study examined the relationship between marital status and cognitive performance in middle-aged and older adults, focusing on episodic and semantic memory. Using data from 155 participants aged 50 to 94 in the Southcoast Cognitive Aging Study (SCAS), we assessed cognitive performance through delayed recall and vocabulary tasks. Regression analyses controlling for age, gender, education, and race revealed that married individuals performed significantly better on episodic memory tasks compared to their unmarried counterparts. Exploratory analyses showed that widowed and divorced/separated individuals had significantly lower scores on semantic memory compared to married participants. These findings may be explained by several mechanisms, including cognitive reserve, the emotional support and regulation provided by marriage, and increased opportunities for linguistic engagement within close relationships, all of which may contribute to better memory performance. The results highlight the importance of social relationships in promoting cognitive resilience and underscore the need for targeted interventions to mitigate cognitive risks among unmarried older adults.
本研究考察了中老年人群婚姻状况与认知表现之间的关系，重点关注情景记忆和语义记忆。利用南海岸认知衰老研究（SCAS）中155名年龄在50至94岁之间参与者的数据，我们通过延迟回忆和词汇任务评估认知表现。控制年龄、性别、教育程度和种族的回归分析显示，已婚个体在情景记忆任务上的表现显著优于未婚个体。探索性分析表明，与已婚参与者相比，丧偶和离异/分居个体在语义记忆方面得分显著更低。这些发现可能由多种机制解释，包括认知储备、婚姻提供的情感支持和调节，以及亲密关系中语言交流机会的增加，所有这些都可能有助于更好的记忆表现。结果凸显了社会关系在促进认知恢复力方面的重要性，并强调需要有针对性的干预措施来降低未婚老年人的认知风险。
