The goal of this research is to test whether often observed correlates of loneliness in older age are related to onset of loneliness longitudinally. Despite the increasing number of longitudinal studies, the investigation of factors that are related to onset of loneliness is still limited. Analyses are based on data of the TamELSA study, which is a population-based prospective study in Tampere, Finland and started in 1979. For the present study 469 older adults aged between 60 and 86 years at baseline, who were not lonely at baseline, were selected and followed-up in 1989, 1999 and 2006. During the 28 years of follow-up approximately one third (N = 178) of the study population developed feelings of loneliness. Logistic regression analyses indicated that losing a partner, reduced social activities, increased physical disabilities, increased feelings of low mood, uselessness and nervousness, rather than baseline characteristics, are related to enhanced feelings of loneliness at follow-up. The higher incidence of loneliness among women can be fully explained by the unequal distribution of risk factors among men and women (e.g., women more often become widowed). Our results are in line with the cognitive approach that conceptualizes loneliness as an unpleasant feeling due to a perceived discrepancy between the desired and the achieved level of social and personal resources.

The impact of three types of everyday activities (i.e., social, experiential, and developmental) on four cognitive functions (i.e., immediate recall, learning, fluid intelligence, and information-processing speed) and one global indicator of cognitive functioning (Mini-Mental State Exam score) over a period of 6 years was studied in a large 55–85 year-old population-based sample (N = 2,076). A cross-lagged regression model with latent variables was applied to each combination of 1 cognitive function and 1 type of activity, resulting in 15 (3 × 5) different models. None of the activities were found to enhance cognitive functioning 6 years later when controlling for age, gender, level of education, and health, as well as for unknown confounding variables. Conversely, one cognitive function (i.e., information-processing speed) appeared to affect developmental activity. It is suggested that no specific activity, but rather socioeconomic status to which activities are closely connected, contributes to maintenance of cognitive functions.

Cognitive aging is characterized by large heterogeneity, which may be due to variations in childhood socioeconomic conditions (CSC). Although there is substantial evidence for an effect of CSC on levels of cognitive functioning at older age, results on associations with cognitive decline are mixed. We examined by means of an accelerated longitudinal design the association between CSC and cognitive trajectories from 50 to 96 years. Cognition included two functions generally found to decline with aging: delayed recall and verbal fluency. Data are from six waves of the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), conducted between 2004 and 2015 (n = 24,066 at baseline; 56% female, age 50+). We found a consistent CSC pattern in levels of cognitive functioning in later life. Older people with disadvantaged CSC had lower levels of cognitive functioning than those with more advantaged CSC. We also find that decline is almost 1.6 times faster in the most advantaged group compared with the most disadvantaged group. The faster decline for people with more advantaged CSC becomes less pronounced when we additionally control for adulthood socioeconomic conditions and current levels of physical activity, depressive symptoms, and partner status. Our findings are in line with the latency, pathway, and cumulative model and lend support to theories of cognitive reserve, stating that neuronal loss can no longer be repaired in people with more cognitive reserve once the underlying pathology is substantial and speed of decline is accelerated. Significance There is increasing evidence that socioeconomic conditions early in life have an impact on cognitive functioning in later life. Based on the large longitudinal sample from SHARE we find a clear pattern in cognitive functioning in old age, related to childhood socioeconomic conditions: Those from more affluent households show higher levels of fluid intelligence in old age and experience stronger decline over time in executive functions. The latter phenomenon is not often documented. Although modifications in cognitive functioning with aging are inevitable, life course socioeconomic circumstances impact the timing of this process. We conclude that the etiology of cognitive aging is the result of multiple social processes, defined by the socioeconomic conditions in childhood and all along the life course.