The association between different dimensions of social capital and cognition among older adults in China

Background: Social capital is a multidimensional concept including social trust, social support, social participation, and reciprocity, and each dimension may be associated with the cognition of older adults differently. The existing research on social capital and cognition rarely constructs a comprehensive social capital framework and compares the association between the cognition and multiple dimensions of social capital. Objective: To determine whether four social capital domains have different associations with cognition among older adults in China. Methods: Baseline and four-year follow-up data (N = 6291) from community-dwelling participants aged ≥55 years at baseline from CHARLS were used. Generalized linear regression was conducted to assess the association between four dimensions of social capital at baseline and cognition at four-year follow-up of all samples, controlling for baseline cognitive scores. Results: Both financial support (β = 0.177, p = 0.013) and reciprocity (β = 0.280, p = 0.022) at baseline were associated with better executive function four years later, and social participation (β = 0.123, p = 0.004) at baseline was associated with better episodic memory after four years. Age, gender, education and hukou modified the association between social capital and cognition (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Financial support, reciprocity and social participation was associated with cognition among Chinese older adults to different extent.