Childhood socioeconomic position and cognitive aging in Europe: The role of depressive symptoms and loneliness

Abstract

The relationship between childhood socioeconomic position (CSEP) and cognitive decline in later life remains a subject of debate, with no clear consensus. This study aims to examine the impact of CSEP on cognitive decline and the potential mediating effects of depressive symptoms and loneliness. Data were drawn from the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe, involving 24,615 participants aged 50–90 years over an 8-year follow-up. CSEP was measured using four indicators at age 10: primary breadwinner's occupational status, overcrowding, housing quality, and the number of books. Cognitive performance, assessed across waves 5–9, included episodic memory (immediate and delayed recall) and executive function (verbal fluency). A linear mixed-effects model was applied to analyze the influence of CSEP on cognitive decline. The results indicated that individuals with disadvantaged CSEP had lower cognitive abilities in later life (intercept_{disadvantaged} = −0.71 for memory, intercept_{disadvantaged} = −1.72 for verbal fluency) and experienced a faster decline in memory (β_{age×disadvantaged} = −0.11), though no significant impact was observed on the rate of executive function decline. Depressive symptoms (β_indirect = −0.02 for memory, β_indirect = −0.05 for verbal fluency) and loneliness (β_indirect = −0.01 for memory, β_indirect = −0.03 for verbal fluency) may partially mediate the link between disadvantaged CSEP and cognitive function. These findings suggest that early-life socioeconomic conditions play a role in cognitive abilities in later life. This evidence deepens public understanding of the mechanisms driving cognitive decline and suggest that strategies to mitigate cognitive aging should be implemented early in life.