Most people crave domestic bliss – and now researchers have shown that it is good for your cognitive health too.
Unhappy family relationships were associated with a 66 per cent greater risk of dementia.
Academics analysed data on 104,093 UK adults aged 40 to 69 who were dementia-free for the first four years of the study period.
They were tracked for more than 13 years, during which time 1,359 developed dementia.
The scientists compared the risk of diagnosis with relationship and friendship satisfaction.
The men and women had been asked how satisfied they were with their family relationships and friendships.
The results of the study – which compared relationship and friendship satisfaction – showed that being dissatisfied with family relationships, compared to being satisfied, was associated with a 34 per cent increased risk of dementia
The academics found unhappy family relationships were associated with a 66 per cent greater risk of dementia
Results showed that being dissatisfied with family relationships, compared to being satisfied, was associated with a 34 per cent increased risk of dementia.
Being very dissatisfied was associated with a 66 per cent higher risk.
Friendship dissatisfaction showed no significant association with dementia risk, according to the report from the National Clinical Research Centre for Geriatric Disease, China.
The study, which appears in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia, states: ‘The findings suggest that family relationship quality may be an important consideration in dementia risk assessment.’
