Social relations are considered a critical protective factor for cognitive health yet may differ in form and function across race and ethnic groups.
Method
Using a representative metro-Detroit sample (N = 606), we compared group means to (1) test whether Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) Americans social relations are distinct from other groups and (2) examine links between social relations and cognitive health using structural equation models.
Results
MENA Americans’ social relations differed from White and Black Americans. Larger networks and more positive relationship quality were associated with better cognitive health across all groups but particularly among MENA Americans. A lower proportion of women in networks was associated with better cognitive health for White Americans.
Conclusions
Findings suggest that the form and function of social relations vary across racial and ethnic groups. Such knowledge is critical in clarifying how social networks may be leveraged to promote cognitive health across groups.
AbboudS.ChebliP.RabelaisE. (2019). The contested whiteness of Arab identity in the United States: Implications for health disparities research. American Journal of Public Health, 109(11), 1580–1583. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2019.305285
2.
AbrahamN.HowellS.ShryockA. (2011). Arab Detroit 9/11: Life in the terror decade. Wayne State University Press.
3.
AjrouchK. J. (2000). Place, age, and culture: Community living and ethnic identity among Lebanese American adolescents. Small Group Research, 31(4), 447–469. https://doi.org/10.1177/104649640003100404
AjrouchK. J. (2008). Social isolation and loneliness among Arab American elders: Cultural, social, and personal factors. Research in Human Development, 5(1), 44–59. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427600701853798
6.
AjrouchK. J.AbuelezamN. N.KasraviN.ReadJ. G. (2025). Structural inequities and Middle Eastern and North African American health in systems that impact population health: Past and present. American Public Health Association Press.
7.
AjrouchK. J.AntonucciT. C. (2018). Social relations and health: Comparing “invisible” Arab Americans to blacks and whites. Society and Mental Health, 8(1), 84–92. https://doi.org/10.1177/2156869317718234
8.
AjrouchK. J.AntonucciT. C.JanevicM. R. (2001). Social networks among blacks and whites: The interaction between race and age. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 56(2), S12–S118. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/56.2.s112
9.
AjrouchK. J.FullerH. R.AkiyamaH.AntonucciT. C. (2018). Convoys of social relations in cross-national context. The Gerontologist, 58(3), 488–499. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnw204
10.
AjrouchK. J.HuR. X.WebsterN. J.AntonucciT. C. (2024). Friendship trajectories and health across the lifespan. Developmental Psychology, 60(1), 94–107. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001589
11.
AjrouchK. J.ZahodneL. B.AntonucciT. C. (2017). Arab American cognitive aging: Opportunities for advancing research on Alzheimer’s disease disparities. Innovation in Aging, 1(3), igx034. https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igx034
12.
AlegríaM.PescosolidoB. A.WilliamsS.CaninoG. (2011). Culture, race/ethnicity and disparities: Fleshing out the socio-cultural framework for health services disparities. In PescosolidoB.MartinJ.McLeodJ.RogersA. (Eds.), Handbooks of sociology and social research (pp. 363–382). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7261-3_19
13.
AlwinD. F.ThomasJ. R.Sherman-WilkinsK. J. (2018). Race, social relations and the life course. In AlwinD.FelmleeD.KreagerD. (Eds.), Social networks and the life course. Frontiers in sociology and social research (Vol. 2, pp. 285–313). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71544-5_14
14.
AmievaH.StoykovaR.MatharanF.HelmerC.AntonucciT. C.DartiguesJ.-F. (2010). What aspects of social network are protective for dementia? Not the quantity but the quality of social interactions is protective up to 15 years later. Psychosomatic Medicine, 72(9), 905–911. https://doi.org/10.1097/psy.0b013e3181f5e121
15.
AntonucciT. C. (2001). Social relations: An examination of social networks, social support, and sense of control. In BirrenJ. E.SchaieK. W. (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of aging (5th ed., pp. 427–453). Academic Press.
16.
AntonucciT. C.AjrouchK. J.BirdittK. S. (2014). The convoy model: Explaining social relations from a multidisciplinary perspective. The Gerontologist, 54(1), 82–92. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnt118
17.
AntonucciT. C.AjrouchK. J.WebsterN. J. (2019). Convoys of social relations: Cohort similarities and differences over 25 years. Psychology and Aging, 34(8), 1158–1169. https://doi.org/10.1037/pag0000375
18.
AntonucciT. C.AkiyamaH. (1987). Social networks in adult life and a preliminary examination of the convoy model. Journal of Gerontology, 42(5), 519–527. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronj/42.5.519
19.
AwadG. H.AbuelezamN. N.AjrouchK. J.StifflerM. J. (2022). Lack of Arab or Middle Eastern and North African health data undermines assessment of health disparities. American Journal of Public Health, 112(2), 209–212. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306590
20.
BarulliD.SternY. (2013). Efficiency, capacity, compensation, maintenance, plasticity: Emerging concepts in cognitive reserve. Trends in Cognitive Science, 17(10), 502–509. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2013.08.012
21.
Bonilla‐SilvaE. (2023). It’s not the rotten apples! Why family scholars should adopt a structural perspective on racism. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 15(2), 192–205. https://doi.org/10.1111/jftr.12503
22.
BonomiA. E.CellaD. F.HahnE. A.BjordalK.Sperner-UnterwegerB.GangeriL.BergmanB.Willems-GrootJ.HanquetP.ZittounR. (1996). Multilingual translation of the functional assessment of cancer therapy (FACT) quality of life measurement system. Quality of Life Research, 5(3), 309–320. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00433915
23.
CainkarL. A. (2009). Homeland insecurity: The Arab American and Muslim American experience After 9/11. Russell Sage Foundation.
24.
CalmasiniC.SwinnertonK. N.ZimmermanS. C.PetersonR. L.GeorgeK. M.GilsanzP.Hayes-LarsonE.MayedaE. R.MungasD. M.WhitmerR. A.GlymourM. M. (2022). Association of social integration with cognitive status in a multi-ethnic cohort: Results from the Kaiser Healthy Aging and diverse life experiences study. Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology, 35(6), 789–799. https://doi.org/10.1177/08919887211070259
25.
CasalettoK. B.UmlaufA.MarquineM.BeaumontJ. L.MungasD.GershonR.SlotkinJ.AkshoomoffN.HeatonR. K. (2016). Demographically corrected normative standards for the Spanish language version of the NIH toolbox cognition battery. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 22(3), 364–374. https://doi.org/10.1017/S135561771500137X
26.
DalloF. J.Al SnihS.AjrouchK. J. (2009). Prevalence of disability among US-and foreign-born Arab Americans: Results from the 2000 US census. Gerontology, 55(2), 153–161. https://doi.org/10.1159/000151538
27.
DalloF. J.KindrattT. B.AjrouchK. J. (2023). Suitability of Middle Eastern and North African immigrant minimal reporting category for Arab immigrant health research in the National Health Interview Survey. Social Science and Medicine, 336, Article 116260. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116260
28.
DalloF. J.KindrattT. B.ZahodneL. (2021). Prevalence of self-reported cognitive impairment among Arab American immigrants in the United States. Innovation in Aging, 5(1), Article igaa058. https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igaa058
29.
de FriasC. M.DixonR. A.BäckmanL. (2003). Use of memory compensation strategies is related to psychosocial and health indictors. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 58(1), 12–22. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/58.1.P12
30.
DiNapoliE. A.WuB.ScoginF. (2014). Social isolation and cognitive function in Appalachian older adults. Research on Aging, 36(2), 161–179. https://doi.org/10.1177/01640275124707
31.
DuncanB.TrejoS. J. (2011). Tracking intergenerational progress for immigrant groups: The problem of ethnic attrition. American Economic Review, 101(3), 603–608. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.101.3.603
32.
EremencoS. L.CellaD.ArnoldB. J. (2005). A comprehensive method for the translation and cross-cultural validation of health status questionnaires. Evaluation & the Health Professions, 28(2), 212–232. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163278705275342
FordC. L.HarawaN. T. (2010). A new conceptualization of ethnicity for social epidemiologic and health equity research. Social Science & Medicine, 71(2), 251–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.04.008
35.
FratiglioniL.WangH.-X.EricssonK.MaytanM.WinbladB. (2000). Influence of social network on occurrence of dementia: A community-based longitudinal study. The Lancet, 355(9212), 1315–1319. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(00)02113-9
36.
GauthierG. R.SmithJ. A.GarcíaC.GarciaM. A.ThomasP. A. (2021). Exacerbating inequalities: Social networks, racial/ethnic disparities, and the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 76(3), e88–e92. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbaa117
37.
GlassT. A.de LeonC. F. M.SeemanT. E.BerkmanL. F. (1997). Beyond single indicators of social networks: A Lisrel analysis of social ties among the elderly. Social Science & Medicine, 44(10), 1503–1517. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0277-9536(96)00270-5
38.
GrigoryevaA. (2017). Own gender, sibling’s gender, parent’s gender: The division of elderly parent care among adult children. American Sociological Review, 82(1), 116–146. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122416686521
39.
GuadalupeS.Testa VicenteH. (2021). Intergenerational support networks and wellbeing in old age. In YonkR. M. (Ed.), Improving quality of life - Exploring standard of living, wellbeing, and community development. BoD – Books on Demand. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96302
40.
HamlinA. M.KraalA. Z.SolK.MorrisE. P.MartinoA. G.ZaheedA. B.ZahodneL. B. (2022). Social engagement and its links to cognition differ across Non-Hispanic Black and White older adults. Neuropsychology, 36(7), 640–650. https://doi.org/10.1037/neu0000844
41.
HeckathornD. D. (1997). Respondent-driven sampling: A new approach to the study of hidden populations. Social Problems, 44(2), 174–199. https://doi.org/10.2307/3096941
42.
HerzogA. R.RodgersW. L. (1988). Interviewing older adults: Mode comparison using data from a face-to-face survey and a telephone resurvey. Public Opinion Quarterly, 52(1), 84–99. https://doi.org/10.1086/269083
43.
JenningsV.BamkoleO. (2019). The relationship between social cohesion and urban green space: An avenue for health promotion. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(3), 452. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16030452
44.
KahnR. L.AntonucciT. C. (1980). Convoys over the life course: Attachment, roles, and social support. In BaltesP. B.BrimO. (Eds.), Life-span development and behavior (Vol. 3). Academic Press.
45.
KatzB.TurneyI.LeeJ. H.AminiR.AjrouchK. J.AntonucciT. C. (2020). Race/ethnic differences in social resources as cognitive risk and protective factors. Research in Human Development, 17(1), 57–77. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427609.2020.1743809
KimH. S.ShermanD. K.TaylorS. E. (2008). Culture and social support. American psychologist, 63(6), 518–526. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x
48.
KindrattT. B.DalloF. J.ZahodneL. B.AjrouchK. J. (2022). Cognitive limitations among Middle Eastern and North African immigrants. Journal of Aging and Health, 34(9–10), 1244–1253. https://doi.org/10.1177/08982643221103712
49.
KindrattT. B.SmithA. (2024). Cognitive difficulty in Middle Eastern and North African adults living in the United States compared with other racial and ethnic categories, 2017–2021. American Journal of Public Health, 114(11), 1265–1274. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2024.307803
50.
KoyanagiA.OhH.VancampfortD.CarvalhoA. F.VeroneseN.StubbsB.LaraE. (2019). Perceived stress and mild cognitive impairment among 32,715 community-dwelling older adults across six low-and middle-income countries. Gerontology, 65(2), 155–163. https://doi.org/10.1159/000492177
51.
LachmanM. E.NeupertS. D.AgrigoroaeiS. (2011). The relevance of control beliefs for health and aging. In SchaieK. W.WillisS. L. (Eds.), The handbooks of aging consisting of three vols. Handbook of the Psychology of Aging (pp. 175–190). Elsevier Academic Press.
52.
La FleurC. G.SalthouseT. A. (2017). Which aspects of social support are associated with which cognitive abilities for which people?Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 72(6), 1006–1016. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbv119
53.
LubbersM. J. (2022). Social networks and the resilience of marginalized communities. In LazegaE.SnijdersT.WittekR. (Eds.), A research agenda for social networks and social resilience (pp. 1–16). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781803925783.00006
54.
MaghboulehN.SchachterA.FloresR. D. (2022). Middle Eastern and North African Americans may not be perceived, nor perceive themselves, to be white. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(7), Article e2117940119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2117940119
MarsdenP. V. (1987). Core discussion networks of Americans. American Sociological Review, 52(1), 122–131. https://doi.org/10.2307/2095397
59.
MillerL. M. S.GagneD. D. (2005). Effects of age and control beliefs on resource allocation during reading. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 12, 129–148. https://doi.org/10.1080/13825580590925161
60.
NasreddineZ. S.PhillipsN. A.BédirianV.CharbonneauS.WhiteheadV.CollinI.CummingsJ. L.ChertkowH. (2005). The Montreal Cognitive Assessment, MoCA: A brief screening tool for mild cognitive impairment. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 53(4), 695–699. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2005.53221.x
61.
PillemerS. C.HoltzerR. (2015). The differential relationships of dimensions of perceived social support with cognitive function among older adults. Aging & Mental Health, 20(7), 727–735. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2015.1033683
62.
PlantE. A.Sachs-EricssonN. (2004). Racial and ethnic differences in depression: The roles of social support and meeting basic needs. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72(1), 41–52. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006x.72.1.41
63.
ReadJ. G.AjrouchK. J.WestJ. S. (2019). Disparities in functional disability among Arab Americans by nativity, immigrant arrival cohort, and country of birth. SSM-Population Health, 7, Article 100325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2018.100325
64.
RookK. S.CharlesS. T. (2017). Close social ties and health in later life: Strengths and vulnerabilities. American Psychologist, 72(6), 567–577. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000104
65.
SaleemM.HawkinsI.WojcieszakM. E.RodenJ. (2021). When and how negative news coverage empowers collective action in minorities. Communication Research, 48(2), 291–316. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650219877094
66.
SalmaJ.SalamiB. (2020). “Growing old is not for the weak of heart”: Social isolation and loneliness in Muslim immigrant older adults in Canada. Health & Social Care in the Community, 28(2), 615–623. https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.12894
67.
SamtlebenC.MüllerK. U. (2022). Care and careers: Gender (in)equality in unpaid care, housework and employment. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 77, Article 100659. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rssm.2021.100659
68.
SayedL.AlanaziM.AjrouchK. J. (2023). Self-reported cognitive aging and well-being among older Middle Eastern/Arab American immigrants during the COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(11), 5918. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20115918
69.
SayedL.AlanaziM.AjrouchK. J. (2025). Intergenerational relations and well-being among older middle eastern/arab American immigrants during the covid-19 pandemic. Research on Aging, 47(1), 66–76. https://doi.org/10.1177/01640275241256990
70.
SeemanT. E.LusignoloT. M.AlbertM.BerkmanL. (2001). Social relationships, social support, and patterns of cognitive aging in healthy, high-functioning older adults: MacArthur studies of successful aging. Health Psychology, 20(4), 243–255. https://doi.org/10.1037//0278-6133.20.4.243
71.
ShaheenJ. G. (2003). Reel bad Arabs: How Hollywood vilifies a people. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 588(1), 171–193. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716203588001011
72.
SharifianN.KraalA. Z.ZaheedA. B.SolK.ZahodneL. B. (2020). Longitudinal associations between contact frequency with friends and with family, activity engagement, and cognitive functioning. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 26(8), 815–824. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1355617720000259
73.
SharifianN.ManlyJ. J.BrickmanA. M.ZahodneL. B. (2019). Social network characteristics and cognitive functioning in ethnically diverse older adults: The role of network size and composition. Neuropsychology, 33(7), 956–963. https://doi.org/10.1037/neu0000564
74.
ShefflerJ.Sachs-EricssonN. (2016). Racial differences in the effect of stress on health and the moderating role of perceived social support. Journal of Aging and Health, 28(8), 1362–1381. https://doi.org/10.1177/0898264315618923
75.
SmithJ. R.GibbonsL. E.CraneP. K.MungasD. M.GlymourM. M.ManlyJ. J.GrossA. L.Rose MayedaE.JonesR. N. (2023). Shifting of cognitive assessments between face-to-face and telephone administration: Measurement considerations. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 78(2), 191–200. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbac135
76.
StoneR.CafferataG. L.SanglJ. (1987). Caregivers of the frail elderly: A national profile. The Gerontologist, 27(5), 616–626. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/27.5.616
77.
StromJ. L.EgedeL. E. (2012). The impact of social support on outcomes in adult patients with type 2 diabetes: A systematic review. Current Diabetes Reports, 12(6), 769–781. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11892-012-0317-0
78.
TaylorS. E.ShermanD. K.KimH. S.JarchoJ.TakagiK.DunaganM. S. (2004). Culture and social support: Who seeks it and why?Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(3), 354–362. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.87.3.354
79.
TreasJ.MazumdarS. (2002). Older people in America’s immigrant families: Dilemmas of dependence, integration, and isolation. Journal of Aging Studies, 16(3), 243–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0890-4065(02)00048-8
80.
UchinoB. N. (2004). Social support and physical health: Understanding the health consequences of our relationships. Yale University Press.
81.
UchinoB. N.RuizJ. M.SmithT. W.SmythJ. M.TaylorD. J.AllisonM.AhnC. (2016). Ethnic/racial differences in the association between social support and levels of c‐reactive proteins in the North Texas heart study. Psychophysiology, 53(1), 64–70. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.12499
VallanceJ. K.EurichD. T.GardinerP. A.TaylorL. M.StevensG.JohnsonS. T. (2014). Utility of telephone survey methods in population-based health studies of older adults: An example from the Alberta Older Adult Health Behavior (ALERT) study. BMC Public Health, 14(1), 486. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-14-486
Villalonga-OlivesE.AlmansaJ.KnottC. L.RansomeY. (2020). Social capital and health status: Longitudinal race and ethnicity differences in older adults from 2006 to 2014. International Journal of Public Health, 65(3), 291–302. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-020-01341-2
ZahodneL. B.AjrouchK. J.SharifianN.AntonucciT. C. (2019). Social relations and age-related change in memory. Psychology and Aging, 34(6), 751–765. https://doi.org/10.1037/pag0000369
89.
ZahodneL. B.BrauerS.TarrafW.MorrisE. P.AntonucciT. C.AjrouchK. J. (2023). Measurement and structural invariance of a neuropsychological battery among Middle Eastern/North African, Black, and White older adults. Neuropsychology, 37(8), 975–984. https://doi.org/10.1037/neu0000902
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
