Social support mediates the relationships between extraversion, neuroticism, and cognitive function in older adults

•We modelled the relationship between personality and cognitive decline.•High neuroticism levels are associated with more cognitive decline.•High extraversion levels are associated with more cognitive decline.•Social support mediates the relationship between personality and cognition.

ObjectivesWe supplement existing findings on a link between social support and cognitive function in later life by considering the role of personality as an antecedent to both, and of social support as a mediator of the link between personality and cognitive function.Study designAn observational cohort study.MethodsWe evaluated social support using the Lubben Social Network Scale, across 624 adults aged over 60 years, and investigated this measure as a mediator of the relationships between extraversion and neuroticism at baseline 2007-2009, and cognitive function at follow-up, 2 years later. A half-longitudinal mediation design, within a structural equation modelling framework, was used.ResultsThere was a direct effect of extraversion, such that lower levels were related to higher scores of cognitive function. There was no significant direct effect of neuroticism on cognitive function at follow-up. Social support partially mediated the paths between both extraversion and neuroticism and cognitive function at follow-up. Decomposing the mediation effects by using social support subscales (measuring support from friends, relatives and neighbours) showed meaningful indirect effects for both predictors.ConclusionResults suggest that social support may offer a target for interventions for cognitively at-risk older adults and add to the existing empirical evidence describing the link between personality and cognitive function.