# Late-Life Informal Social Participation, Physical and Cognitive Functions Among the Chinese Elderly: A Life Course Perspective

## TL;DR

This study explores how childhood health and socioeconomic conditions affect social participation and cognitive/physical functions in Chinese elderly people later in life.

## Contribution

It reveals the long-term impact of childhood health on late-life social engagement and cognitive function, emphasizing the role of internet access.

## Key findings

- Poor childhood health is linked to reduced late-life informal social participation, especially family contact.
- Internet access shows a reciprocal relationship with cognitive function in older age.
- Childhood socioeconomic status influences late-life cognitive and physical functions through social participation.

## Abstract

Objectives: The current study aims to investigate how childhood conditions influence the reciprocal associations between informational social participation and the functions in cognitive and physical aspects in late life. Methods: A longitudinal dataset, merged from the 2016, 2018, and 2020 waves from the China Family Panel Studies, was employed. It comprised 4686 individuals aged 60 or older in the 2016 wave. A cross-lagged structural equation model was estimated to examine the influences of health and family socioeconomic status in childhood on the cross-lagged associations between informational social participation (i.e., contact with child(ren), grandparenting, and digital access) and functions in cognitive and physical aspects (i.e., cognitive function and personal activities of daily living) in late life. Results: The results revealed that poor health in childhood was associated with less informal social participation in late life, particularly in contact with families. Moreover, internet access appeared to have a temporal and reciprocal association with cognitive function in late life. Conclusions: The current study highlighted the impact of childhood health on late-life informal social participation and emphasized the crucial role of engaging in social activities through the internet in preserving the elderly’s cognitive function in later stages of life.