NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Having a close network of family and friends may not only improve a person's social life, but may also help ward off age-related dementia, a recent study suggests.

According to the report of nearly 1,200 healthy people ages 70 to 79, those who reported greater emotional support were less likely to experience declines in memory, language and the ability to think abstractly--regardless of other risk factors. They were followed for nearly 8 years.

But social relationships did not have to be rosy to show positive effects on participants' minds. Those who reported more conflicts and demands from their relationships also remained in better mental shape, researchers report in the July issue of the journal Health Psychology.

``It is possible that the association reflects a greater ability of those with better cognitive skills to engage in more frequent and more complex social interactions,'' suggest Dr. Teresa E. Seeman of the University of California, Los Angeles and colleagues.

In addition, the study found that unmarried people, especially women, were more likely to remain mentally sharp compared with their married peers. While it is not clear why, the researchers suggest that caring for an aging and ill spouse may undermine a person's mental well-being.

``The fact that unmarried individuals exhibited better cognitive function was also unexpected, since presence of a spouse has generally been found to predict better health outcomes,'' the authors write. ``However, in this older group, presence of a spouse may be associated with greater burdens for care of the spouse which may have negative effects on cognition.''

The researchers point out that previous studies have linked social support with better physical health, including lower rates of heart disease, high blood pressure and depression. Therefore, social support may help preserve brain functioning by lowering the risk of health problems that are associated with mental decline. Alternatively, social interactions may simply help a person remain mentally engaged.

In other findings, men reported more social ties overall, but women were more likely to be involved in groups. For men, marriage was associated with a bigger social network and greater emotional support. For women, marriage was associated with fewer close ties and less emotional support.

The average age of participants was 74 years and about 18% were African American. One third of men reported annual incomes of less than $10,000, compared with 63% of women.

SOURCE: Health Psychology 2001.

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