A - 01 Association between Social Vulnerability and Susceptibility in Non-Demented Older Adults.

Abstract

Social vulnerability, conceptualized as an impaired ability to detect or avoid potentially harmful interpersonal interactions, has been associated with the cognitive decline characteristic of neurodegenerative diseases. Social vulnerability is not routinely assessed in clinical evaluations of older adults, despite its potential clinical utility in identifying individuals at risk for poor outcomes. Participants (age 60 and over) were cognitively unimpaired, or presented with subjective cognitive decline or mild cognitive impairment. Each participant had a knowledgeable informant (i.e., family member or friend) who completed the Social Vulnerability Scale (SVS; Pinsker et al., 2006), a 15-item measure including items such as, "Been deceived by someone who has deceived them before." Respondents were asked to rate the likely outcome if the participant was, "placed in that situation now," using a Likert-type scale ranging from never to always (total score range from 0-60). Point biserial correlation was applied to investigate the association between SVS scores and the response to a single item from a COVID-19 questionnaire: "Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, has your loved one fallen prey or come close to falling prey to scam?" For the 69 participants (M age = 75.6; M education = 15.7; 70% female), SVS scores were significantly associated with the report of increased susceptibility to a scam (rpb= 0.47, p < 0.001) during the COVID-19 pandemic. These results highlight the need for attention to social interaction patterns during clinical evaluations, to help identify and mitigate potential harmful outcomes in those most vulnerable. Additional research should clarify the relationship between social vulnerability and falling prey to scams.