Social behavior in mild cognitive impairment and early dementia

Julie D. Henry, William von Hippel, Claire Thompson, Polly Pulford, Perminder Sachdev, Henry Brodaty

Social behavioral abnormalities are commonly seen in the later stages of dementia. However, there has been only limited empirical study of social functioning in the earlier stages of the disease, or in individuals diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The aim of the present study was to test whether these clinical groups show more socially inappropriate and prejudicial behavior relative to controls, as rated by informants. No group differences were identified for ratings of either socially appropriate behavior or stereotyping and prejudice. However, the results also indicated that informants rated participants with dementia as showing the most inappropriate behavior, and that these ratings were related to participants' degree of immediate logical memory impairment, but not to delayed memory recall or to more general neurocognitive decline as indexed by the Mini Mental State Examination. Together, these results have implications for an understanding of some of the changes in social function seen in abnormal adult aging.