Your Relationship Status Could Predict Your Dementia Risk, Says New Study

Common conversation has traditionally suggested that it’s coupled folks who have the advantage in staying healthy. With modern times comes a new twist: A recent study found that staying single seemed to show some connection to preserving brain health.

Published in the March 2025 issue of Alzheimer’s & Dementia, the peer-reviewed journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, researchers from Florida State University’s College of Medicine and the University of Montpellier in France found that unmarried people may actually have a lower risk of having dementia than their married counterparts.

The study included 24,107 participants and used data from the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center (NACC), “one of the largest cohorts with annual clinical evaluation of dementia over one of the longest follow-ups (up to 18 years).” The average participant age was 71.79 years, and 59.6% were women.

The participants were divided into the following six relationship status categories:

• Married
• Widowed
• Divorced
• Separated
• Never married/marriage annulled
• Living as married/domestic partners

Over that longitudinal period, the cognitive status of participants was assessed annually by trained clinicians through neuropsychological tests and clinical examinations—as the researchers report, participants underwent “rigorous cognitive assessment and clinical diagnoses of dementia in specialized centers across the United States.”

Out of the 24,107 participants, 4,853 were diagnosed with some form of dementia by the time the near-two-decade follow-up period ended. Those individuals were more likely to be female, older, and married, among other identifiers.

“Surprisingly, all unmarried groups were at a lower risk of all-cause dementia compared to the married group,” the study remarks.

These findings oppose many previous studies, and researchers suggest the lower rate of dementia among unmarried people could mean two things:

1. It could indicate delayed diagnoses among unmarried individuals.
2. It challenges the assumption that marriage protects against dementia.

But there’s another factor to consider: Perhaps unmarried individuals were less likely to be diagnosed compared to married people because “married individuals [are] more likely to have partners who notice and report cognitive failures.” The report continues, “Individuals may be unaware of their symptoms, particularly in the early stages of dementia.”

While the study boasts of several strengths in its research, the researchers add that encompassing a wider range of participants could be useful to future study of the connection.

Married readers, you might jokingly agree that it would be a little easier to keep your head straight if it were just you whom you needed to worry about. But for all of us, this might be a timely reminder to check in on the older adults in your life, regardless of their relationship status—and keep an eye out for early signs of dementia.

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