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Study found that people who were not married were less at risk (at least 50% lower risk) than married people for dementia. One contributing factor may be that single people are better at maintaini... (www.psychologytoday.com)

submitted 2 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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cross-posted from: https://lemmit.online/post/5558928

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The original was posted on /r/science by /u/mvea on 2025-04-03 10:04:48+00:00.

Original Title: Study found that people who were not married were less at risk (at least 50% lower risk) than married people for dementia. One contributing factor may be that single people are better at maintaining social ties. Single people may also have a greater variety of interesting and unique experiences.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

So the hypothesized mechanism here is that single people tend to have healthier social lives. Another study that accounts for level of social activity might be needed to untangle this. But this does support the idea that the issue is not marriage per se but the atomized nuclear family we’ve built up as the highest form of human relationship in the West. It seems very possible to build a society that has plenty of marriage but also healthy extra-marital relationships.

I would be curious if there’s also a correlation with car and suburban culture which are strong elements that separate families from outside socialization in our culture, especially for the elderly who may eventually lose the ability to drive.