Journal
JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL SOCIETY
Volume 18, Issue 5, Pages 856-865Publisher
CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1017/S1355617712000628
Keywords
African American; Cognitive function; Epidemiology; Psychological stress; Depressive symptoms; Cohort study
Categories
Funding
- National Institute on Aging [R01 AG22018, R01 AG17917]
- Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute [K01HL092591]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Existing evidence suggests that psychosocial stress is associated with cognitive impairment in older adults. Perceived discrimination is a persistent stressor in African Americans that has been associated with several adverse mental and physical health outcomes. To our knowledge, the association of discrimination with cognition in older African Americans has not been examined. In a cohort of 407 older African Americans without dementia (mean age=72.9; SD=6.4), we found that a higher level of perceived discrimination was related to poorer cognitive test performance, particularly episodic memory (estimate=-0.03; SE=.013; p<.05) and perceptual speed tests (estimate=-0.04; SE=.015; p<.05). The associations were unchanged after adjusting for demographics and vascular risk factors, but were attenuated after adjustment for depressive symptoms (Episodic memory estimate=-0.02; SE=0.01; Perceptual speed estimate=-0.03; SE=0.02; both p's=.06). The association between discrimination and several cognitive domains was modified by level of neuroticism. The results suggest that perceived discrimination may be associated with poorer cognitive function, but does not appear to be independent of depressive symptoms. (JINS, 2012, 18, 856-865)
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available