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Peer-reviewedCC BY-NC-NDThe Journal of frailty & aging

From social isolation to frailty: the chain mediating roles of depression and cognitive decline among Chinese older adults.

  • Hujia Yang1
  • Chunduo Liang1
  • Junqian Ma1
  • Ning Ma1
  • Rui Guo1
  • Shusong Deng2
  1. 1School of Public Health, Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, Baise, Guangxi, 533000, PR China.
  2. 2School of Public Health, Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, Baise, Guangxi, 533000, PR China.. Electronic address: [email protected].
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Abstract

Background

As global aging accelerates, frailty has emerged as a critical public health challenge. Although social isolation is recognized as a prevalent psychosocial risk factor among older adults, the longitudinal mechanisms linking it to frailty-specifically via the chain mediating pathways of depression and cognitive decline-remain underexplored.Objective

This study aimed to investigate the presence and magnitude of the "social isolation → depression → cognitive function → frailty" chain mediation pathway in the Chinese elderly population.Methods

Using four waves of data (2011-2018) over 7 years from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), we analyzed a final sample of 3316 participants aged ≥60 years who were non-frail at baseline. The chain mediation pathways were tested by integrating logistic regression analyses within a structural equation modeling framework. The significance of direct and indirect effects was examined using the bias-corrected bootstrap method with 5000 resamples.Results

Among the 3316 participants (mean age: 68.9 ± 5.9 years; 60.5% female), 1947 (58.7%) developed frailty during follow-up. After full adjustment for covariates, social isolation exhibited no significant direct effect on frailty. Instead, its impact was exclusively indirect through three distinct pathways: (1) the independent mediating route of depression (effect value = 0.976; 95% CI: 0.200-1.735); (2) the independent mediating route of cognitive function (effect value = 0.490; 95% CI: 0.003-0.985); and (3) the chain mediating route from depression to cognitive function (effect value = 0.173; 95% CI: 0.035-0.311). The total indirect effect value was 1.638 (95% CI: 0.637-2.611), confirming a full mediation mechanism.Conclusion

Social isolation functions as a distal determinant that indirectly escalates the risk of frailty by potentially inducing depression, which subsequently accelerates cognitive decline. These findings highlight the need for integrated interventions targeting social engagement, mental health, and cognitive function to prevent or delay frailty in older populations.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{yang2026from,
  title = {{From social isolation to frailty: the chain mediating roles of depression and cognitive decline among Chinese older adults.}},
  author = {Hujia Yang and Chunduo Liang and Junqian Ma and Ning Ma and Rui Guo and Shusong Deng},
  journal = {The Journal of frailty \& aging},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1016/j.tjfa.2026.100218},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42873644},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - From social isolation to frailty: the chain mediating roles of depression and cognitive decline among Chinese older adults.
AU  - Hujia Yang
AU  - Chunduo Liang
AU  - Junqian Ma
AU  - Ning Ma
AU  - Rui Guo
AU  - Shusong Deng
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/13
JO  - The Journal of frailty & aging
DO  - 10.1016/j.tjfa.2026.100218
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42873644
AB  - Background  As global aging accelerates, frailty has emerged as a critical public health challenge. Although social isolation is recognized as a prevalent psychosocial risk factor among older adults, the longitudinal mechanisms linking it to frailty-specifically via the chain mediating pathways of depression and cognitive decline-remain underexplored.Objective  This study aimed to investigate the presence and magnitude of the "social isolation → depression → cognitive function → frailty" chain mediation pathway in the Chinese elderly population.Methods  Using four waves of data (2011-2018) over 7 years from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), we analyzed a final sample of 3316 participants aged ≥60 years who were non-frail at baseline. The chain mediation pathways were tested by integrating logistic regression analyses within a structural equation modeling framework. The significance of direct and indirect effects was examined using the bias-corrected bootstrap method with 5000 resamples.Results  Among the 3316 participants (mean age: 68.9 ± 5.9 years; 60.5% female), 1947 (58.7%) developed frailty during follow-up. After full adjustment for covariates, social isolation exhibited no significant direct effect on frailty. Instead, its impact was exclusively indirect through three distinct pathways: (1) the independent mediating route of depression (effect value = 0.976; 95% CI: 0.200-1.735); (2) the independent mediating route of cognitive function (effect value = 0.490; 95% CI: 0.003-0.985); and (3) the chain mediating route from depression to cognitive function (effect value = 0.173; 95% CI: 0.035-0.311). The total indirect effect value was 1.638 (95% CI: 0.637-2.611), confirming a full mediation mechanism.Conclusion  Social isolation functions as a distal determinant that indirectly escalates the risk of frailty by potentially inducing depression, which subsequently accelerates cognitive decline. These findings highlight the need for integrated interventions targeting social engagement, mental health, and cognitive function to prevent or delay frailty in older populations.
SN  - 2260-1341
SN  - 2273-4309
ER  -