---
title: "Psych News Alert: Low Social Engagement May Point to Older Adults at Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease"
description: Spending little time engaging with friends and family or participating in activities outside the home may be a marker for possible cognit...
image: https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/OLDER%20ADULTS%20BEING%20SOCIAL%20iStock-950832444-Jun-24-2025-04-39-31-6200-PM.jpg
---

 5/14/19 12:00 AM

# Low Social Engagement May Point to Older Adults at Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [ Psychiatric News Alert ](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert)

Share: [facebook-f icon ](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://alert.psychnews.org/2019/05/low-social-engagement-may-point-to.html) [linkedin-in icon ](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2019/05/low-social-engagement-may-point-to.html) [Twitter icon ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2019/05/low-social-engagement-may-point-to.html) [pinterest-p icon ](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2019/05/low-social-engagement-may-point-to.html) [envelope icon ](mailto:?body=https://alert.psychnews.org/2019/05/low-social-engagement-may-point-to.html)

| ![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/OLDER%20ADULTS%20BEING%20SOCIAL%20iStock-950832444-Jun-24-2025-04-39-29-6416-PM.jpg?width=200&height=133&name=OLDER%20ADULTS%20BEING%20SOCIAL%20iStock-950832444-Jun-24-2025-04-39-29-6416-PM.jpg) |  |
| --- | --- |

Spending little time engaging with friends and family or participating in activities outside the home may be a marker for possible cognitive decline in older adults who are still cognitively normal but show evidence of brain changes indicative of possible Alzheimer’s disease (AD), according to a [report](https://www.ajgponline.org/article/S1064-7481(19)30360-4/pdf) in the *American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry*.

“Understanding changes in social engagement in older adults may lead to earlier diagnosis of AD and advances in evidence-based prevention and treatment,” wrote senior author Nancy Donovan, M.D., chief of the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and colleagues.

A total of 217 men and women aged 63 to 89 underwent assessments for social engagement and cognitive performance at baseline and three years later. The participants were evaluated using the Community Healthy Activities Model Program for Seniors questionnaire, including questions about the amount of time participants spent with friends and family outside the home, involvement with church and clubs, and more; the less total time participants reported engaging in such activities, the lower their total social engagement score. The Preclinical Alzheimer Cognitive Composite (PACC) assessed the episodic memory, executive function, and global cognition of the participants. Amyloid-β (a protein associated with AD) was measured using Pittsburgh Compound B-PET.

The researchers found that cognitively normal older adults with low levels of social engagement and evidence of accumulation of amyloid-β in the brain at baseline had greater cognitive decline at three years than those with high levels of social engagement at baseline. In contrast, higher baseline social engagement was associated with relative preservation of PACC, the authors reported.

“These findings emphasize the importance of social engagement as a resilience or vulnerability marker in older adults at risk of cognitive impairment due to AD and support recommendations promoting social engagement in older adults,” they wrote.

For related information, see the *Psychiatric News* article “[Purpose in Life Linked to Physical Function in Older Adults](https://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.pn.2017.9b2).”

(Image: iStock/asiseeit)

[![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Twitter_Bird-Jun-24-2025-04-42-12-9203-PM.png)](https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Twitter_Bird-Jun-24-2025-04-42-12-9203-PM.png) 

**[Follow *Psychiatric News* on Twitter!](https://twitter.com/PsychiatricNews)**

[Alzheimer's disease](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/alzheimers-disease), [cognitive decline](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/cognitive-decline), [social engagement](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/social-engagement), [American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/american-journal-of-geriatric-psychiatry), [M.D.](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/m-d-), [older adults](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/older-adults), [Nancy Donovan](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/nancy-donovan), [amyloid accumulation](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/amyloid-accumulation)

## Related posts

[![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/iStock-517234006-Jun-24-2025-05-07-47-7863-PM.jpg?height=200&name=iStock-517234006-Jun-24-2025-05-07-47-7863-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2017/09/methylphenidate-found-to-reduce-apathy.html)

[Alzheimer's disease](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/alzheimers-disease), [veterans](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/veterans), [methylphenidate](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/methylphenidate), [apathy](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/apathy), [AJP in Advance.](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/ajp-in-advance-)

## [Methylphenidate Found to Reduce Apathy in Patients With Mild Alzheimer’s Disease](https://alert.psychnews.org/2017/09/methylphenidate-found-to-reduce-apathy.html)

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 

 9/19/17 12:00 AM

Methylphenidate appears to improve apathy in patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease (AD), according...

[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2017/09/methylphenidate-found-to-reduce-apathy.html)

[![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_130170530-Jun-24-2025-09-40-30-7220-PM.jpg?height=200&name=shutterstock_130170530-Jun-24-2025-09-40-30-7220-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2014/04/apoe-4-allele-may-confer-greater.html)

[mild cognitive impairment](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/mild-cognitive-impairment), [Alzheimer’s](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/alzheimers), [APOE-4](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/apoe-4)

## [APOE-4 Allele May Confer Greater Alzheimer's Risk for Women, Study Suggests](https://alert.psychnews.org/2014/04/apoe-4-allele-may-confer-greater.html)

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 

 4/15/14 12:00 AM

Presence of the APOE-4 gene, the strongest genetic risk factor for Alzheimer disease identified to...

[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2014/04/apoe-4-allele-may-confer-greater.html)

[![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/thc_oil_iStock-1688882848.jpg?height=200&name=thc_oil_iStock-1688882848.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/could-thc-be-leveraged-in-alzheimers-related-agitation-management)

[Alzheimer's disease](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/alzheimers-disease), [cannabis](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/cannabis), [agitation](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/agitation), [dementia](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/dementia), [clinical trial](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/clinical-trial), [dronabinol](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/dronabinol), [THC](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/thc)

## [Could THC Be Leveraged in Alzheimer’s-Related Agitation Management?](https://alert.psychnews.org/could-thc-be-leveraged-in-alzheimers-related-agitation-management)

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 

 11/17/25 6:14 PM

Dronabinol (synthetic THC) may be a safe and effective pharmacologic option for managing agitation...

[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/could-thc-be-leveraged-in-alzheimers-related-agitation-management)

```json
{
  "@context" : "https://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "Psychiatric News Alert",
    "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert"
  },
  "dateModified" : "2025-06-24T16:43:32.142Z",
  "datePublished" : "2019-05-14T04:00:00.000Z",
  "headline" : "Psych News Alert: Low Social Engagement May Point to Older Adults at Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease",
  "image" : [ "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/OLDER%20ADULTS%20BEING%20SOCIAL%20iStock-950832444-Jun-24-2025-04-39-31-6200-PM.jpg" ],
  "mainEntityOfPage" : {
    "@id" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/2019/05/low-social-engagement-may-point-to.html",
    "@type" : "WebPage"
  },
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/PN-Blue-Box.jpg"
    }
  }
}
```