Abstract

Background and objectives

The relationship between caregiving and cognition remains unclear. We investigate this association comparing four cognitive tasks and exploring the role of potential explanatory pathways such as healthy behaviours (healthy caregiver hypothesis) and depression (stress process model).

Research design and methods

Respondents were from English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) (N = 8910). Cognitive tasks included immediate and delayed word recall, verbal fluency and serial 7 subtraction. Series of hierarchical linear regressions were performed. Adjustments included socio-demographics, health related variables, health behaviours and depression.

Results

Being a caregiver was positively associated with immediate and delayed recall, verbal fluency but not with serial 7. For immediate and delayed recall, these associations were partially attenuated when adjusting for health behaviours, and depression. For verbal fluency, associations were partially attenuated when adjusting for depression but fully attenuated when adjusting for health behaviours. No associations were found for serial 7.

Discussion and implications

Our findings show that caregivers have higher level of memory and executive function compared to non-caregivers. For memory, we found that although health behaviours and depression can have a role in this association, they do not fully explain it. However, health behaviours seem to have a clear role in the association with executive function. Public health and policy do not need to target specifically cognitive function but other areas as the promotion of healthy behaviours and psychological adjustment such as preventing depression and promoting physical activity in caregivers.

中文翻译：

---

非正式护理人员的认知：来自英国人口研究的证据

 抽象的

背景和目标

照顾和认知之间的关系仍不清楚。我们研究了这种关联，比较了四种认知任务，并探索了健康行为（健康护理者假设）和抑郁（压力过程模型）等潜在解释途径的作用。

研究设计和方法

受访者来自英国老龄化纵向研究 (ELSA) ( N = 8910)。认知任务包括即时和延迟的单词回忆、语言流畅性和序列 7 减法。进行了一系列分层线性回归。调整包括社会人口统计、健康相关变量、健康行为和抑郁症。

 结果

作为看护者与立即回忆和延迟回忆、言语流利度呈正相关，但与序列 7 无关。对于立即回忆和延迟回忆，在调整健康行为和抑郁时，这些关联部分减弱。对于言语流畅性，在调整抑郁症时，关联部分减弱，但在调整健康行为时，关联完全减弱。未发现与系列 7 的关联。

讨论和影响

我们的研究结果表明，与非护理人员相比，护理人员的记忆力和执行功能水平更高。对于记忆，我们发现虽然健康行为和抑郁可以在这种关联中发挥作用，但它们并不能完全解释它。然而，健康行为似乎在与执行功能的关联中具有明显的作用。公共卫生和政策不需要专门针对认知功能，而是针对其他领域，例如促进健康行为和心理调整，例如预防抑郁症和促进护理人员的身体活动。