IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v383y2025ics0277953625007567.html

Cognitive functioning and depressive symptoms in the aging population: The buffering role of marital status

Author

Listed:
  • Ciziceno, M.
  • Maggio, G.

Abstract

This study examines the moderating role of marital status in the relationship between depressive symptoms and cognitive functioning in older adults from 12 European countries. Using longitudinal panel data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), we hypothesize that marriage buffers the negative effects of depression on cognitive abilities, focusing on immediate and delayed memory and verbal fluency.

Suggested Citation

  • Ciziceno, M. & Maggio, G., 2025. "Cognitive functioning and depressive symptoms in the aging population: The buffering role of marital status," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 383(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:383:y:2025:i:c:s0277953625007567
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118425
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953625007567
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118425?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Östling, Robert & Cesarini, David & Lindqvist, Erik & Terskaya, Anastasia, 2023. "Fortunate Families? The Effects of Wealth on Marriage and Fertility," CEPR Discussion Papers 18000, Centre for Economic Policy Research.
    2. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2009. "Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 8769, December.
    3. Ariane Bertogg & Anja K Leist & Deborah S Carr, 2021. "Partnership and Cognitive Aging in Europe: Mediating Factors and Social Stratification," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 76(6), pages 1173-1185.
    4. Minle Xu & Patricia A. Thomas & Debra Umberson, 2016. "Editor's choice Marital Quality and Cognitive Limitations in Late Life," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 71(1), pages 165-176.
    5. Adam Shapiro & Corey Keyes, 2008. "Marital Status and Social Well-Being: Are the Married Always Better Off?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 88(2), pages 329-346, September.
    6. Lenzen, Sabrina & Gannon, Brenda & Rose, Christiern & Norton, Edward C., 2023. "The relationship between physical activity, cognitive function and health care use: A mediation analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 335(C).
    7. Guido W. Imbens & Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, 2009. "Recent Developments in the Econometrics of Program Evaluation," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 5-86, March.
    8. Faustine Perrin, 2022. "On the origins of the demographic transition: rethinking the European marriage pattern," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 16(3), pages 431-475, September.
    9. Haghighi, Paniz & Littler, Emma A.L. & Mauer-Vakil, Dane & Miller, Michaella & Oremus, Mark, 2024. "Exploring the relationship between marital quality and cognitive function: A systematic review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 355(C).
    10. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, December.
    11. Boukje Maria van Gelder & Marja Tijhuis & Sandra Kalmijn & Simona Giampaoli & Aulikki Nissinen & Daan Kromhout, 2006. "Marital Status and Living Situation During a 5-Year Period Are Associated With a Subsequent 10-Year Cognitive Decline in Older Men: The FINE Study," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 61(4), pages 213-219.
    12. Liu, Hui & Zhang, Zhenmei & Zhang, Yan, 2021. "A national longitudinal study of marital quality and cognitive decline among older men and women," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Antonis Adam & Sofia Tsarsitalidou, 2019. "Do sanctions lead to a decline in civil liberties?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 180(3), pages 191-215, September.
    2. Wameq A. Raza & Ellen van de Poel & Arjun Bedi & Frans Rutten, 2016. "Impact of Community‐based Health Insurance on Access and Financial Protection: Evidence from Three Randomized Control Trials in Rural India," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(6), pages 675-687, June.
    3. Daniel Morales Martínez & Alexandre Gori Maia, 2018. "The Impacts of Cash Transfers on Subjective Wellbeing and Poverty: The Case of Colombia," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 39(4), pages 616-633, December.
    4. Markku Maula & Wouter Stam, 2020. "Enhancing Rigor in Quantitative Entrepreneurship Research," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(6), pages 1059-1090, November.
    5. Massimo G. Colombo & Kourosh Shafi, 2026. "Firms’ venture capital affiliation, platforms’ “skin in the game” and the success of equity crowdfunding campaigns," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 53(1), pages 167-197, March.
    6. Thushyanthan Baskaran, 2017. "Local fiscal policy after a bailout: austerity or soft budget constraints?," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 209-238, August.
    7. Zdravko Šergo & Jasmina Gržinić & Anita Silvana Ilak Peršurić, 2025. "Testing Baumol’s Cost Disease in Tourism: Productivity, Prices, and Labor Costs in Selected EU Countries Amid COVID-19 and the Russo–Ukrainian War," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(14), pages 1-37, July.
    8. Tymon Słoczyński, 2022. "Interpreting OLS Estimands When Treatment Effects Are Heterogeneous: Smaller Groups Get Larger Weights," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 104(3), pages 501-509, May.
    9. Ralf Dewenter & Ulrich Heimeshoff & Hendrik Lüth, 2017. "Less Pain at the Pump? The Effects of Regulatory Interventions in Retail Gasoline Markets," Applied Economics Quarterly (formerly: Konjunkturpolitik), Duncker & Humblot GmbH, Berlin, vol. 63(3), pages 259-274.
    10. Ferreira, Maria & de Grip, Andries & van der Velden, Rolf, 2018. "Does informal learning at work differ between temporary and permanent workers? Evidence from 20 OECD countries," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 18-40.
    11. Olayinka Oyekola & Olapeju C. Ogunmokun & Martha A. Omolo & Samuel Odewunmi, 2023. "Gender, Legal Origin, and Accounting Disclosure: Evidence from More Than 140,000 Firms," Discussion Papers 2313, University of Exeter, Department of Economics.
    12. Ferreira Sequeda, M.T. & de Grip, A. & van der Velden, R.K.W., 2015. "Does on-the-job informal learning in OECD countries differ by contract duration," Research Memorandum 021, Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics (GSBE).
    13. Sonna Vikhil & K.S. Kavi Kumar, 2025. "Impact of Cash Transfer Program on Time-Use Patterns of Agricultural Households: Evidence from India," Working Papers 2025-287, Madras School of Economics,Chennai,India.
    14. Anna Bottasso & Maurizio Conti & Marta Santagata, 2022. "Transport Infrastructure and Trade: A Survey of the Empirical Literature," Economia Internazionale / International Economics, Camera di Commercio Industria Artigianato Agricoltura di Genova, vol. 75(4), pages 447-464.
    15. Li, Meiyi & Li, Yiang & Engelman, Michal, 2026. "Gender differences in associations between spousal cognitive decline and marital strain: Evidence from the U.S. older couples," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 388(C).
    16. Aleksey Oshchepkov & Anna Shirokanova, 2020. "Multilevel Modeling For Economists: Why, When And How," HSE Working papers WP BRP 233/EC/2020, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    17. Majid Abdi & Preet S. Aulakh, 2018. "Internationalization and performance: Degree, duration, and scale of operations," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 49(7), pages 832-857, September.
    18. Masakure, Oliver, 2016. "The effect of employee loyalty on wages," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 274-298.
    19. Antonis Adam & Evi Tsavou, 2024. "Assessing the effect of international terrorism on civil liberties using a potential outcomes framework," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 200(1), pages 201-236, July.
    20. Vladimir Atanasov & Bernard Black, 2021. "The Trouble with Instruments: The Need for Pretreatment Balance in Shock-Based Instrumental Variable Designs," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(2), pages 1270-1302, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:383:y:2025:i:c:s0277953625007567. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.