Subtypes of social support availability are not differentially associated with memory: a cross-sectional analysis of the Comprehensive Cohort of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging

This study investigated the association between subtypes of social support availability (SSA) and memory in persons aged 45 to 85 years (n = 24,719). We examined two memory outcomes using a modified Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT)–immediate recall (RAVLT I) and delayed recall (RAVLT II)–and five subtypes of SSA: affectionate, emotional/informational, positive interactions, tangible, overall. We found statistically significant and adjusted positive associations between all SSA subtypes and memory, except for positive interactions and delayed recall memory. For RAVLT I, the regression coefficients (βˆs) ranged from 0.03 to 0.07; the βˆs for RAVLT II ranged from 0.02 to 0.05. The differences in βˆs for each SSA subtype (βˆ RAVLT I – βˆ RAVLT II) ranged from 0.00 to 0.02 (mean difference = 0.01; 95% confidence interval = −0.01 to 0.03). All effect sizes, regardless of SSA subtype or memory outcome, were small and clinically unimportant.