Muñoz, E., Sutin, G., & Robins, R. Perceived ethnic discrimination and cognitive function: A 12-year longitudinal study of Mexican-origin adults. Social Science & Medicine.
Publisher's VersionAbstract
Objectives
Hispanic/Latinx adults are at increased risk for cognitive impairment, and it is critically important to identify modifiable risk factors for cognitive impairment in this population. We addressed two key questions: (1) How does perceived discrimination change across middle adulthood? And, (2) how are discrimination and the trajectory of discrimination associated with cognitive function?
Methods
We used data from 1,110 Mexican-origin adults between 26 and 62 years old (63% female; 85% born in Mexico). Participants completed a perceived ethnic discrimination scale five times across 12 years and completed cognitive assessments in the last wave, which were composited into a measure of overall cognitive function. We used latent growth curve models to estimate the longitudinal trajectory of perceived ethnic discrimination and growth mixture models to identify sub-groups of change trajectories. We evaluated whether patterns of perceived discrimination trajectories, baseline, intermediary, and concurrent discrimination predicted cognitive function at the last wave.
Results
Perceived ethnic discrimination decreased over time on average. Significant individual differences in within-person change revealed two change trajectory classes: Stable Low and High Declining. The Stable Low class had better cognitive performance compared to the High Declining class, but this effect was not robust to educational attainment. Perceived discrimination at the last wave was associated with worse cognitive function, and this effect remained after accounting for covariates.
Conclusions
This study is among the first to evaluate changes in perceived ethnic discrimination in a sample of Mexican-origin adults and their associations with cognitive function. The results highlight the need for more research to better understand the role of discrimination and other social stressors on cognitive health outcomes.
Phillips, D., Finkel, D., Petkus, A. J., Muñoz, E., Pahlen, S., Johnson, W., Reynolds, C. R., et al. Longitudinal analyses indicate bidirectional associations between loneliness and health. Aging & Mental Health , 1-9.
Publisher's VersionAbstract
Objectives To evaluate temporal dynamics between loneliness and both objective and subjective health (i.e. functional impairment and self-rated health) in mid- to late-adulthood.
Method We applied bivariate dual-change-score models to longitudinal data from 3 Swedish twin studies (N = 1,939) to explore dynamic associations between loneliness and health across 3 age ranges (50–69, 70–81, and 82+ years) to investigate whether associations between loneliness and health change with age due to increasing incidence of chronic health conditions and bereavement.
Results Results showed bidirectional associations between loneliness and both objective and subjective health, with adverse impacts of loneliness observed on subsequent subjective and objective health beginning at age 70. Associations between health and subsequent loneliness were observed after age 82 and varied for subjective and objective health, with subjective health associated with less loneliness and objective health associated with greater loneliness.
Conclusions Our results indicate dynamic associations between loneliness and health with age in mid- to late-adulthood, with earlier impacts of loneliness on health and later impacts of health on loneliness that vary for objective and subjective measures of health. These findings suggest impacts of health on loneliness may arise later in life when worsening health or mobility interfere with social interaction.
Marquine, M. J., Gallo, L. C., Tarraf, W., Wu, B., Moore, A.A.,, Vásquez, P. M., Talavera, G., et al. The association of stress, metabolic syndrome and systemic inflammation with neurocognitive function in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos and its Sociocultural Ancillary Study.
The Journals of Gerontology: Series B ,
77 (5), 860-871.
Publisher's VersionAbstractIdentifying sociocultural correlates of neurocognitive dysfunction among Hispanics/Latinos, and their underlying biological pathways, is crucial for understanding disparities in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. We examined cross-sectional associations between stress and neurocognition, and the role that metabolic syndrome (MetS) and systemic inflammation might play in these associations.Participants included 3,045 adults aged 45–75 (56% female, education 0–20+ years, 86% Spanish-speaking, 23% U.S.-born), enrolled in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos and its Sociocultural Ancillary Study. Global neurocognition was the primary outcome and operationalized as the average of the z scores of measures of learning and memory, word fluency, and processing speed. Stress measures included self-report assessments of stress appraisal (perceived and acculturative stress) and exposure to chronic and traumatic stressors. MetS was defined via established criteria including waist circumference, high blood pressure, elevated triglycerides, fasting plasma glucose, and high levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Systemic inflammation was represented by high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP).Separate survey multivariable linear regression models adjusting for covariates showed that higher perceived (b = −0.004, SE = 0.002, p < .05) and acculturative stress (b = −0.004, SE = 0.001, p < .0001) were significantly associated with worse global neurocognition, while lifetime exposure to traumatic stressors was associated with better global neurocognition (b = 0.034, SE = 0.009, p < .001). Neither MetS nor hs-CRP were notable pathways in the association between stress and neurocognition; rather, they were both independently associated with worse neurocognition in models including stress measures (ps < .05).These cross-sectional analyses suggest that stress appraisal, MetS, and systemic inflammation may be targets to reduce neurocognitive dysfunction among Hispanics/Latinos.