TY - JOUR T1 - Examining Racial Disparities in Historical Change of Mental and Physical Health Across Midlife and Old Age in the US JF - The Journals of Gerontology, Series B Y1 - 2022 A1 - Staben, Omar A1 - Frank J Infurna A1 - Margie E Lachman A1 - Denis Gerstorf KW - Adult Development and Aging KW - Cohort Effects KW - Mental and Physical Health KW - Multilevel Modeling KW - Racial Disparities AB - Objective: Examine whether racial disparities are narrowing or widening with historical time among US middle-aged and older adults, and test the extent to which educational attainment moderates racial disparities over historical time. Method: Multilevel models were applied to longitudinal data on middle-aged (ages 40-65) and older adults (ages 66 and older) from the Health and Retirement Study. Historical change was indexed as cohort or birth year. The outcomes of focus were depressive symptoms, episodic memory, health conditions, functional limitations, and self-rated health. Results: Results revealed a differential pattern of racial disparities in historical change between midlife and old age. Across midlife and old age, on average, Blacks and Hispanics reported poorer levels of mental and physical health, compared to Whites. In midlife, racial disparities narrowed with historical time; later-born cohorts of Hispanics but not Whites reported fewer depressive symptoms than their earlier-born peers. Likewise, historical improvements in health were stronger among Hispanics and Blacks than Whites. Conversely, in old age, later-born cohorts across race consistently showed historical improvements in each of the outcomes examined. Regarding educational attainment, we observed little consistent evidence that health-promoting effects of educational attainment would differ across race and cohort. Examining questions about heterogeneity, results revealed that in midlife and old age there was greater heterogeneity between race across each of the outcomes. Discussion: Our discussion elaborates on reasons behind the documented racial differences in historical changes among US middle-aged and older adults, and how the protective role of education is changing over time. VL - 77 IS - 11 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Historical Change in Midlife Health, Well-Being, and Despair: Cross-Cultural and Socioeconomic Comparisons JF - American Psychologist Y1 - 2021 A1 - Frank J Infurna A1 - Staben, Omar A1 - Margie E Lachman A1 - Denis Gerstorf KW - adult development KW - culture change KW - KLoSA KW - MHAS KW - socioeconomic differences AB - Recent empirical evidence has documented that US middle-aged adults today are reporting lower mental and physical health than same-aged peers several decades ago. Individuals who attained fewer years of education have been most vulnerable to these historical changes. One overarching question is whether this phenomenon is confined to the US or whether it is transpiring across other high-income and upper-middle-income nations. To examine this question, we use nationally representative longitudinal panel data from five nations across different continents and cultural backgrounds (US, Australia, Germany, South Korea, and Mexico). Results revealed historical improvements in physical health for people in their 40s and early 50s across all five nations. Conversely, the direction of historical change in mental health vastly differed across nations. Later-born cohorts of US middle-aged adults exhibit worsening mental health and cognition. Australian middle-aged adults also experienced worsening mental health with historical time. In contrast, historical improvements for mental health were observed in Germany, South Korea, and Mexico. For US middle-aged adults, the protective effect of education diminished in later-born cohorts. Consistent across the other nations, individuals with fewer years of education were most vulnerable to historical declines or benefitted the least from historical improvements. We discuss potential reasons underlying similarities and differences between the US and other nations in these historical trends and consider the role of education. VL - 76 IS - 6 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), diabetes and trajectories of change in episodic memory performance. JF - J Epidemiol Community Health Y1 - 2017 A1 - Pappas, Colleen A1 - Andel, Ross A1 - Frank J Infurna A1 - Seetharaman, Shyam KW - Aged KW - cognitive aging KW - Demography KW - Diabetes Mellitus KW - Female KW - Glycated Hemoglobin A KW - Humans KW - Longitudinal Studies KW - Male KW - Memory, Episodic KW - Risk Factors KW - Sex Factors KW - United States AB -

BACKGROUND: As the ageing population grows, it is important to identify strategies to moderate cognitive ageing.

OBJECTIVE: We examined glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) and diabetes in relation to level and change in episodic memory in older adults with and without diabetes.

METHODS: Data from 4419 older adults with (n=950) and without (n=3469) diabetes participating in a nationally representative longitudinal panel study (the Health and Retirement Study) were examined. Average baseline age was 72.66 years and 58% were women. HbA1c was measured in 2006 and episodic memory was measured using immediate and delayed list recall over 4 biennial waves between 2006 and 2012. Growth curve models were used to assess trajectories of episodic memory change.

RESULTS: In growth curve models adjusted for age, sex, education, race, depressive symptoms and waist circumference, higher HbA1c levels and having diabetes were associated with poorer baseline episodic memory (p=0.036 and <0.001, respectively) and greater episodic memory decline (p=0.006 and 0.004, respectively). The effect of HbA1c on episodic memory decline was smaller than the effect of age. The results were stronger for women than men and were not modified by age or race. When the main analyses were estimated for those with and without diabetes separately, HbA1c was significantly linked to change in episodic memory only among those with diabetes.

CONCLUSIONS: Higher HbA1c and diabetes were both associated with declines in episodic memory, with this relationship further exacerbated by having diabetes and elevated HbA1c. HbA1c appeared more important for episodic memory performance among women than men.

VL - 71 IS - 2 U1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27440936?dopt=Abstract ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Health sensitivity: Age differences in the within-person coupling of individuals’ physical health and well-being. JF - Developmental Psychology Y1 - 2016 A1 - Schöllgen, Ina A1 - Morack, Jennifer A1 - Frank J Infurna A1 - Ram, Nilam A1 - Denis Gerstorf KW - Age differences KW - Health Conditions and Status KW - Marriage KW - Mortality KW - Older Adults AB - Well-being and physical health are central indicators of quality of life in old age. Research from a between-person difference perspective finds that people in better health than their peers also report higher well-being than their peers. However, we know very little about whether changes in one domain are accompanied by changes in the other domain, particularly at the within-person level. In the present study, we introduce the construct of health sensitivity, that is, how susceptible an individuals’ well-being is to changes in physical health. In doing so, we used 9-wave longitudinal data covering 17 years from the Health and Retirement Study (N = 21,689; 50–109 year olds; 55% women) and applied multilevel modeling to examine the covariation of central indicators of well-being (depressive affect) and health (functional limitations) simultaneously at both the between-person and within-person level. At the within-person level, we found evidence of health sensitivity—on occasions when a typical person experienced more functional limitations than usual, he or she also reported more depressive affect—and that health sensitivity decreased with age. Survival analysis revealed that health sensitivity was related to mortality hazards, controlling for mean levels of health and well-being. We discuss the theoretical importance of examining within-person associations between health and well-being and consider practical implications. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) VL - 52 UR - http://doi.apa.org/getdoi.cfm?doi=10.1037/dev0000171 IS - 11 JO - Developmental Psychology ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Mental work demands, retirement, and longitudinal trajectories of cognitive functioning. JF - J Occup Health Psychol Y1 - 2014 A1 - Gwenith G Fisher A1 - Stachowski, Alicia A1 - Frank J Infurna A1 - Jessica Faul A1 - James Grosch A1 - Lois E Tetrick KW - Cognition KW - Employment KW - Female KW - Humans KW - Longitudinal Studies KW - Male KW - Middle Aged KW - Retirement KW - Stress, Psychological AB -

Age-related changes in cognitive abilities are well-documented, and a very important indicator of health, functioning, and decline in later life. However, less is known about the course of cognitive functioning before and after retirement and specifically whether job characteristics during one's time of employment (i.e., higher vs. lower levels of mental work demands) moderate how cognition changes both before and after the transition to retirement. We used data from n = 4,182 (50% women) individuals in the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative panel study in the United States, across an 18 year time span (1992-2010). Data were linked to the O*NET occupation codes to gather information about mental job demands to examine whether job characteristics during one's time of employment moderates level and rate of change in cognitive functioning (episodic memory and mental status) both before and after retirement. Results indicated that working in an occupation characterized by higher levels of mental demands was associated with higher levels of cognitive functioning before retirement, and a slower rate of cognitive decline after retirement. We controlled for a number of important covariates, including socioeconomic (education and income), demographic, and health variables. Our discussion focuses on pathways through which job characteristics may be associated with the course of cognitive functioning in relation to the important transition of retirement. Implications for job design as well as retirement are offered.

PB - 19 VL - 19 UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84896104239andpartnerID=40andmd5=8a0c0422ba5b68927fdc926a3e8a25b4 IS - 2 N1 - Export Date: 21 April 2014 Source: Scopus Article in Press U1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24635733?dopt=Abstract U2 - PMC4663987 U4 - Aging/Cognitive Ability/Job Characteristics/Retirement ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Dynamic links between memory and functional limitations in old age: longitudinal evidence for age-based structural dynamics from the AHEAD study. JF - Psychol Aging Y1 - 2011 A1 - Frank J Infurna A1 - Denis Gerstorf A1 - Lindsay H Ryan A1 - Jacqui Smith KW - Activities of Daily Living KW - Aged KW - Aged, 80 and over KW - Aging KW - Cognition KW - depression KW - Female KW - Health Status KW - Humans KW - Interviews as Topic KW - Longitudinal Studies KW - Male KW - Memory KW - Memory Disorders KW - Memory, Episodic KW - Models, Statistical KW - Neuropsychological tests AB -

This study examined competing substantive hypotheses about dynamic (i.e., time-ordered) links between memory and functional limitations in old age. We applied the Bivariate Dual Change Score Model to 13-year longitudinal data from the Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old Study (AHEAD; N = 6,990; ages 70 - 95). Results revealed that better memory predicted shallower increases in functional limitations. Little evidence was found for the opposite direction that functional limitations predict ensuing changes in memory. Spline models indicated that dynamic associations between memory and functional limitations were substantively similar between participants aged 70-79 and those aged 80-95. Potential covariates (gender, education, health conditions, and depressive symptoms) did not account for these differential lead-lag associations. Applying a multivariate approach, our results suggest that late-life developments in two key components of successful aging are intrinsically interrelated. Our discussion focuses on possible mechanisms why cognitive functioning may serve as a source of age-related changes in health both among the young-old and the old-old.

PB - 26 VL - 26 IS - 3 U1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21480716?dopt=Abstract U2 - PMC3575140 U4 - Memory/Aging/Cognitive ability/Multivariate analysis/Young adults/Personal health ER -