Date of Award

8-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Psychological Science

Department

Psychology

First Reader/Committee Chair

Jones, Jacob

Abstract

Research has shown that social participation can aid in slowing cognitive decline and is associated with cognitive functioning in older adults. Being that Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder primarily known for its motor and cognitive symptoms, it is worth evaluating social participation in patients with Parkinson’s Disease. The aim of this project is to determine whether social participation is associated with more favorable trajectories of neuropsychiatric symptoms among patients afflicted with Parkinson’s Disease. More specifically, this project will seek to examine how specific social activities may be uniquely associated with cognitive decline.

Participants (N = 8,389) who were diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease responded to questionnaires relevant to levels of social participation after receiving a diagnosis of PD. Additionally, participants’ quality of life, global cognitive abilities, subjective depressive symptoms, and motor severity were also assessed with questionnaires. Participants completed the questionnaires every six months over the span of three years, with the exception of the subjective depression questionnaire which was assessed annually for three years. Multilevel modeling was used to identify the association between social participation and nonmotor outcomes (cognitive complaints, depression, anxiety) among respondents, as well as motor symptom severity.

Attending an educational course or event was associated with more depressive symptoms (SE = 0.21; p = 0.007). However, helping others (SE = -0.14; p = 0.022) and meeting friends and family were associated with fewer depressive symptoms (SE = -0.10; p = 0.027). Also, less social participation was associated with greater motor symptom severity (SE = 0.26; p = 0.002), while more time helping others (SE = -0.14; p = 0.031) and more time doing charity work (SE = -0.15; p = 0.012) was associated with less motor symptom severity. Participants’ level of education and motor severity was also significantly associated with levels of depression, cognition, and quality of life. Participants’ age, motor severity, occasion, and income was also associated with levels of depression and quality of life, but not cognition. Further, there were no significant associations between participants’ sex and depressive symptoms, cognition, and quality of life, but there was a significant association between sex and motor severity.

Findings suggest that less social participation is associated with more depressive symptoms and greater motor symptom severity. Limitations of this study extend to the fact that there is limited ability to account for reverse causality. Therefore, future research should seek to examine whether cognitive function, depressive symptoms, and quality of life influence engagement in social participation.

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