The Daily Association Between Leisure Activity Engagement and Cognitive Function

TL;DR

This study explores how daily leisure activities relate to cognitive function in older adults, finding that more daily activities are linked to better memory performance.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into the daily variability of leisure activity engagement and its cognitive benefits in diverse aging populations.

Findings

Participants engaged in an average of seven leisure activities per day with significant intraindividual variability.

Higher daily leisure activity engagement was associated with better memory task performance.

No significant within-person or sociodemographic interaction effects were found for cognitive measures.

Abstract

Regular leisure activity engagement (LAE) is a protective factor for maintaining cognition and reducing Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia (ADRD) risk. However, limited research has explored the association between daily LAE and cognition despite evidence of both LAE and cognition varying daily in sociodemographic heterogenous aging populations. Thus, this study examined 1) intraindividual variability in daily LAE; 2) the association between LAE and cognitive functioning (within-person and between-person); and 3) whether the LAE and cognitive association varies by sociodemographic characteristics. Data from the Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity Across the Life Span (HANDLS) Sleep sub-study were utilized. Using a mobile device, participants (N = 211; age range=46-83; 68% Black; 73% female) reported their daily participation in 56 leisure activities (e.g., choir, reading, jogging, watching tv) across a 7-day period. Participants also completed brief cognitive assessments of memory (DOT memory) and processing speed (Symbol Search). Participants, on average, engaged in seven leisure activities/day (SD = 3.5). Multi-level models revealed significant intraindividual variability observed in LAE with 50% of LAE observed at both within- and between-person levels. Individuals who reported more daily LAE tended to perform significantly better on the memory task [b=-0.04, SE = 0.02, p = 0.04]. No significant within-person associations between LAE and cognition were observed. No significant interactions between LAE and sociodemographic characteristics were observed for either cognitive measure. These findings emphasize the importance of routine, daily, LAE on everyday cognition, which may elicit longer-term protective effects against cognitive decline and ADRD. Future research should explore psychosocial and contextual factors that potentially moderate these relationships.