Family Resources and Cognitive Decline among Elderly in Italy

Fausta Ongaro, Università di Padova
Stefano Mazzuco, Università di Padova
Silvia Meggiolaro, Università di Padova

Family and children may play an important role in the wellbeing of the elderly. In this paper, we examine the association between living arrangements and the cognitive decline among people over 65 in Italy in the hypothesis that living with others may have positive effects on cognitive functioning in comparison with living alone. Data come from SHARE survey, which provides five indicators of cognitive functions: orientation, memory, recall, verbal fluency and numeracy. Cognitive decline was measured considering whether individuals have a decrease between the first and the second wave in each of these five indicators. Results showed that the “effects” of living arrangement are different according to the specific measure of cognitive decline. More in depth analyses will take into account both selection provided by attrition between the first and the second wave and “re-test effect”.