Psychological distress mediates the associations between neighborhood social cohesion (NSC) and cognitive performance in older adults

Abstract The aim of the current study is to test how psychological distress mediates associations between neighborhood social cohesion (NSC) and cognitive performance including episodic memory, semantic verbal fluency, fluid reasoning, numeracy in older adults. Nine multiple regressions were used analyze NSC performance, distress, respectively based on data from 4922 adults with a mean age 66.51 (S.D. = 8.27) years old 47.01% males Understanding Society: UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS). Moreover, mediation analysis was conducted by toolbox MATLAB 2018a ( https://github.com/canlab/MediationToolbox ). found that positively related all measures but negatively whereas associated performance. there complete effect positive association fluency reasoning. However, only partially mediated memory respectively. From policy standpoint, findings contribute evidence reinforces need for program designers policymakers join WHO’s global efforts build age-friendly communities, which promotes NSC, then leads reduced thus better functions among elderly. Preserving may turn reduce health care burdens.