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Religiosity, Life Satisfaction, and Cognitive Function among the Elderly in India: A Path Regression Approach

Nawaz Rasool, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

ABSTRACT Objectives: This research aims to study the influence of psycho-social measures on the cognitive function of the elderly population. Method: The research study included 72,250 aged 45 and above individuals surveyed in the Longitudinal and aging study during 2016-2018. To fulfill the research objective, the study applied the (GSEM) Generalized Structural Equation Modeling. Results: The result reveals that many exogenous variables considered in the path models directly or indirectly influence cognitive function through life satisfaction. The prominent factors that influence cognitive function are religiosity/spirituality, depression, discrimination, and subjective socioeconomic status (SES). The total effect of these variables on the cognitive function is higher than the direct/indirect effect of the respective variables. Conclusion: From these findings, it could be concluded that life satisfaction is a mediator of other psychosocial measures. To improve cognitive function at later ages, there is a need to focus on the happiness of individuals besides other co-factors.

Keywords: Older adults, Population ageing, Structural equation modelling, Culture, ethnicity, race, religion and language

No extended abstract or paper available

  Presented in Session P19.