BACKGROUND: Social participation as a protective factor against cognitive decline was one of the targets in the AgeWell.de study, a multi-domain interventional trial in a sample of older adults at increased risk for dementia. This study aimed to examine differential effects of the intervention and other influencing factors on social participation throughout the trial.
METHODS: A longitudinal analysis of study data at the primary follow-up after 24 months (n = 819) was conducted. The Lubben Social Network Scale (LSNS-6) was used to assess quantitative aspects of social networks, and self-reported social activities were classified using a three-tiered categorical framework to capture qualitative aspects.
RESULTS: A positive effect of the intervention was observed at the qualitative framework level, with an OR of 1.38 [95% CI: 1.05-1.82] for achieving or maintaining higher social participation at follow-up, while no effect could be detected on quantitative social network characteristics. Later phases of the Covid-19 pandemic showed a negative impact on the level of social participation at follow-up with an OR of 0.84 [95% CI: 0.75-0.95].
CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that by focusing on qualitative aspects of social participation as a component of dementia prevention, future interventions can promote enriched social interactions within established social networks.
BACKGROUND: German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS) ID DRKS00013555.

BACKGROUND: The Questionnaire of Young People\'s Participation (QYPP) was developed for use in children and adolescents. To track participation throughout transition from childhood to adulthood, we adapted it for young adults using focus groups. Aim of this study was to validate this measure, the QYPP-Young Adults (QYPP-YA).
METHODS: We recruited young adults with cerebral palsy (CP) and a representative, same-aged sample of the general population (GP). The GP-sample was split into two equivalent subsamples, one part to identify the factor structure via exploratory factor analysis and another part to test the resulting model via confirmatory factor analysis. Reliability and different forms of validity were investigated.
RESULTS: The final QYPP-YA includes 17 items assigned to six domains (Autonomy, Independency, Intimate Relationships, Interpersonal Relationships, Social Life, Online Communication). Scales show satisfying internal consistencies in the CP-sample and in the GP-sample, except for \'Online Communication\'. Convergent, divergent and known-group validity were confirmed.
CONCLUSIONS: The QYPP-YA instrument features promising psychometric characteristics to assess key domains of participation in healthy and disabled young adults. It provides a multidimensional, economic and sound assessment for use in population surveys and clinical trials.

UNASSIGNED: Understand the current situation of social activities among older adults and its impact on mental health, providing policy basis and intervention measures to improve the mental health of the older adult.
UNASSIGNED: Collect relevant data from 8,181 older adults aged ≥ 60 years old from the 2020 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), constructing an analysis framework for social activities of older adults in China from three aspects: participation in social activities, number of social activities, frequency of social activities, and describe them, then analyzing the impact of social activities on their mental health using OLS and 2SLS regression models. This study also discusses the impact of eight social activities on the mental health of older adult people through subgroup.
UNASSIGNED: Among 8,181 older adults aged 60 and above, 3,808 participated in social activities (56.24%), average number of social activities is 0.71, and average frequency of social activities is 1.31 times. The average score of mental health level measured by CES-D is 15.24 points. Participate in social activities can reduce the depression level of the older adult (β = -0.352, 95%CI: -0.547~-0.158); the more social activities the older adult participate in, the lower the depression level of the older adult (β = -0.214, 95%CI: -0.313~-0.115); the higher the frequency of participating in social activities, the lower the depression level of the older adult (β = -0.133, 95%CI: -0.182~-0.083). In summary, social activities can improve the mental health level of the older adults in China. As for different types of social activities, visiting and socializing with friends, participating in club organization activities, playing mahjong, chess, cards, or going to community activity rooms and attending school or training courses can improve the mental health of the older adult.
UNASSIGNED: The social activities in three dimensions among older adults in China need to be further improved, and participating in social activities can help improve their mental health. The conclusion provides important policy implications for encouraging and supporting older adults to participate in various social activities, increasing the number and frequency of older adult social activities, then help improving the mental health level of older adults.

UNASSIGNED: Social disconnection and deaths by suicide among older adults are both important public health concerns, particularly in the context of ageing populations. The association between death ideation and behaviours, and social disconnection is well established and both functional and structural social relationships have been identified as predictive of suicide-related thoughts and behaviours. The \"Wish to Die\" (WTD) involves thoughts of or wishes for one\'s own death or that one would be better off dead is a commonly used indicator to capture death ideation. It has been shown to be as predictive as active ideation of future suicide attempt.
UNASSIGNED: Data were from a large cohort of community-dwelling older adults aged 50+, The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA). Cross-sectional analyses of the association between numerous markers of social disconnection (loneliness, social isolation, living alone, marital status, social participation, volunteering, and attending religious service) and WTD were conducted.
UNASSIGNED: Multiple markers of social disconnection were associated with a \"wish to die\". However, loneliness was the strongest risk factor while attendance of religious services was an important protective behaviour.
UNASSIGNED: There is a strong association between social disconnection and a WTD among older adults. There is also a strong association between depression and a WTD, while attending religious services or similarly prosocial settings may protect older adults from experiencing negative thoughts about dying.

OBJECTIVE: To verify the association between participation restriction due to hearing loss and self-perception of health, social support, and quality of life in elderly people.
METHODS: This is a cross-sectional, observational, and descriptive study with a quantitative data approach. A database with information collected in a medium-sized Brazilian municipality was used. The study was conducted with 235 elderly people registered in five Family Health Strategy Units. Sociodemographic and health information and the results of the following questionnaires were used: Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly - Screening Version (HHIE-S), Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) Social Support Survey, Subjective Health Assessment, and Short-Form 6-Dimension (SF-6D) Health and Quality of Life Index. Groups with and without participation restriction were compared according to sociodemographic, health, social support, and quality of life variables. A multivariate binary logistic regression method was employed to evaluate the associations between the independent variables and participation restriction.
RESULTS: The group with participation restriction is composed of older individuals with lower quality of life and poorer self-perception of health. Poorer self-perception of health was the only predictor of participation restriction related to hearing loss.
CONCLUSIONS: Participation restriction is associated with poorer self-perception of health. The study highlights the importance of assessing individuals\' self-perception regarding biopsychosocial issues, in addition to considering the environmental context to understand the social and emotional impacts caused by hearing loss.
OBJECTIVE: Verificar a associação entre a restrição à participação decorrente de perda auditiva e a autopercepção da saúde, do suporte social e da qualidade de vida em pessoas idosas.
UNASSIGNED: Estudo com delineamento transversal, observacional, descritivo e com abordagem quantitativa dos dados. Foi utilizado um banco de dados com informações coletadas em um município brasileiro de médio porte, sendo incluídas no estudo 235 pessoas cadastradas em cinco unidades de Estratégia de Saúde da Família. Utilizou-se informações sociodemográficas, de saúde e os resultados dos questionários: avaliação à restrição à participação (Hearing Handicap Inventory for the Elderly Screening Version - HHIE-S), Suporte Social (Escala de Apoio Social do MOS), Avaliação Subjetiva de Saúde e a Qualidade de Vida (Short-Form 6 dimensions- SF-6D). Comparou-se os grupos com restrição e sem restrição à participação segundo as variáveis sociodemográficas, de saúde, suporte social e qualidade de vida. Um método de regressão logística binária multivariado foi utilizado para avaliar as associações entre as variáveis independentes e a restrição à participação.
RESULTS: O grupo com restrição à participação é mais velho, possui menor qualidade de vida e pior autopercepção de saúde. Esta se mostrou ser o único preditor da restrição à participação relacionada à perda auditiva.
UNASSIGNED: A restrição à participação está associada a uma pior autopercepção de saúde. O estudo revela a importância de avaliar a autopercepção dos indivíduos quanto às questões biopsicossociais, além de considerar o contexto ambiental para a compreensão dos impactos sociais e emocionais da perda auditiva.

BACKGROUND: Psychological distress (PD) is a major risk factor for mental health among middle-aged and older adults and affects their quality of life and well-being. This study aimed to examine the evolution of PD with age and the relative importance of its determinants, issues that have been insufficiently studied.
METHODS: We used longitudinal data obtained from 17-wave social surveys conducted in Japan from 2005 to 2021, to track 34,128 individuals (16,555 men and 17,573 women) born between 1946 and 1955. We defined PD as a Kessler 6 score (range: 0-24) ≥ 5 and estimated fixed-effects regression models to examine the evolution of its proportion with age. We also conducted a mediation analysis to examine the relative importance of specific mediators such as self-rated health (SRH), activities of daily living (ADL), and social participation, in the association between age and PD.
RESULTS: Regression model results confirmed an increase in PD with age. Poor SRH, issues with ADL, and no social participation were key mediators of aging on PD, accounting for 34.2% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 21.0-47.3%), 13.7% (95% CI: 8.2-19.3%), and 10.5% (95% CI: 8.0-13.0%), respectively; consequently increasing PD between 50 and 75 years.
CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest the need for policy support to encourage middle-aged and older adults to promote health and increase social participation in order to prevent depression while aging.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to explore the relationship between Internet use and intrinsic capability among Chinese older adults, and the potential mediating role of social participation.
METHODS: We verified the correlation between Internet use and intrinsic capacity using multiple linear regression and verified the mediating role of social participation using the Sobel and Bootstrap tests.
RESULTS: The results of multiple linear regression show that there is a significant positive association between Internet use and intrinsic capacity (B = 0.717, p < .001); and social participation plays a mediating role, explaining a total of 20.5% of the association (indirect effect = 0.147, 95% CI: 0.067-0.227).
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that Internet use significantly improves intrinsic capacity among Chinese older adults, with social participation playing a mediating role. Increasing Internet adoption rates and promoting social participation may help improve intrinsic capacity among older adults.

UNASSIGNED: To measure the social participation of people in Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic.
UNASSIGNED: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among people in Saudi Arabia to measure their participation in social activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. A validated questionnaire of Social Participation Scale was used to collect data from five main regions in Saudi Arabia through social media platforms. Means, frequencies, and percentages were calculated through descriptive analysis. Mean scores and standard deviation of social participation of participants were also presented.
UNASSIGNED: The total number of participants was 1,560 including Saudi (87.3%) and non-Saudi (12.7%) nationals. Most participants (60.2%) were female. The age of participants ranged between 16 and 24 years old. Around 62.1% of participants were married, 63.2% were educated, 48.4 were employed and 82% were from the Eastern region. Around 72% of participants earned <10,000 riyals per month compared to those (27.3%) who earned <5,000 riyals per month. A total 72.7% of the participants have been diagnosed by COVID-19. The mean score of social participation was 47.81 (SD = 0.27). Most participants (62.7%) reported that social participation was severely restricted. Around 68.2% of the participants were quarantined at the facilities.
UNASSIGNED: The social participation of people in Saudi Arabia had been severely restricted during the COVID-19 pandemic. An early assessment of people\'s social participation would help to identify their problems and needs, to help them improve their participation in social activities and thus increase their overall quality of life.

Dairy products formulated with bioactives are widely distributed in Japan, but it remains to be clear whether a regular consumption of these products would help reduce the risks of incidental functional disability and dementia in older adults. This study aimed to investigate Japanese subjects aged ≥65 y (n=629) that routinely consumed three functional dairy products, a calcium-enriched milk supplemented with Bifidobacterium longum BB536, a yogurt supplemented with lactoferrin, B. longum BB536 and heat-killed Lacticaseibacillus paracasei MCC1849, and a drinkable yogurt supplemented with lactoferrin, B. longum BB536 and heat-killed L. paracasei MCC1849, through a home delivery service. Intake frequency and intake duration of these functional dairy products were compared with the risk scores of incident functional disability and dementia, developed by the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study. In the participants aged <75 y, the incident functional disability risk was significantly maintained or decreased in the participants with the long intake duration level compared with the short intake duration level (OR, 95% CI: 0.48, 0.25-0.93). In the participants aged ≥75 y, the dementia risk was significantly maintained or decreased in the participants with the high intake frequency level compared with the low intake frequency level (OR, 95% CI: 0.46, 0.22-0.95). A high intake frequency or long term duration of these functional dairy products may be effective in preventing an aging-related increase in the risks of incident functional disability and dementia in older adults, but this warrants further investigation using different products containing different bioactives.

OBJECTIVE: As populations age, the issue of social participation among older adults has gained prominence. Studies indicate variability in social participation trajectories among this demographic, yet the transition patterns and their effects on depression remain unclear. This longitudinal study aims to explore the latent classes and transition patterns in social participation among older adults and to evaluate their effects on depression.
METHODS: Data from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) in 2014 (T1) and 2018 (T2) were analyzed, including 2293 older adults. Latent class analysis (LCA) and latent transition analysis (LTA) were employed to identify latent classes of social participation at T1 and T2, as well as the transition probabilities between these classes. Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine predictors of transitions, and depression levels at T2 were compared across transition patterns.
RESULTS: The LCA results supported a 3-class model labeled as low, moderate, and high social participation. The probabilities of remaining stable and transitioning to other classes were similar across the three classes (ranging from 0.50 to 0.54). Age, gender, and other baseline characteristics emerged as significant predictors of transition patterns. Older adults experiencing positive transitions exhibited reduced depression compared to those in their original class over time, while those with negative transitions showed increased depression.
CONCLUSIONS: This research prompts a deep understanding of social participation dynamics in older adults and their effects on depression. Identifying social participation classes and transition patterns could inform interventions to enhance social participation and reduce depression among older adults.