Mediating the relationship between loneliness and cognitive function: the role of depressive and anxiety symptoms

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between loneliness and cognitive functioning, and whether depressive and anxiety symptoms have intermediate roles therein. Methods: Information about 7,433 participants of the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (a prospective, representative cohort study), aged over 50, was collected at three time-points two years apart, and analysed using Structural Equation Modelling to assess whether depressive and anxiety symptoms mediate the relationship between loneliness and cognitive functioning. Cognitive functioning was measured as a latent factor, with four indicators: measures of immediate and delayed word recall, verbal fluency, and a global measure (the MMSE). Loneliness was measured using the UCLA Loneliness scale, depressive symptoms using the CES-D-ML scale, and anxiety symptoms using the HADS-A scale. Results: Loneliness at time-point 1 predicted cognitive functioning at time-point 3, b ¼ �0.103, p<0.001, and depressive (b¼0.426, p<0.001) and anxiety (b¼0.410, p<0.001) symptoms at time-point 2. Depressive (b ¼ �0.020, p¼0.001) but not anxiety (b ¼ �0.000, p¼0.658) symptoms mediated the relationship between loneliness and cognitive functioning, total effect: b ¼ �0.123, p