%0 Journal Article %J Social Science & Medicine %D 2021 %T A national longitudinal study of marital quality and cognitive decline among older men and women %A Liu, Hui %A Zhang, Zhenmei %A Zhang, Yan %K Aging %K cognitive function %K gender %K Marital quality %X We provide one of the first national longitudinal studies of the association between trajectories of marital quality and cognitive functioning among older adults, with close attention paid to gender differences. Data were drawn from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) 2006–2016. Marital quality trajectories were assessed at three waves: 2006/2008, 2010/2012, and 2014/2016. Cognitive trajectories were assessed at five waves: 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016. The final analytic sample included 7901 respondents age 50 and older (4334 men and 3567 women) who were either married or cohabiting during the study period. Results from parallel linear growth curve models suggest that among older adults, initial positive marital quality was associated with better initial cognition, and initial negative marital quality was associated with worse initial cognition. Results from multiple group analysis further suggest that marital quality was significantly associated with men's cognitive trajectories but not women's. Among men, an increase in positive marital quality was associated with a slower rate of cognitive decline, whereas an increase in negative marital quality was associated with a faster rate of cognitive decline. These findings suggest that older men who experience a decline in marital quality may be vulnerable to cognitive decline and that reducing marital strain and improving marital quality may protect men's cognitive health in later life. %B Social Science & Medicine %V 282 %P 114151 %@ 0277-9536 %G eng %R 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114151 %0 Journal Article %J J Health Soc Behav %D 2016 %T Life Course Pathways to Racial Disparities in Cognitive Impairment among Older Americans. %A Zhang, Zhenmei %A Mark D Hayward %A Yu, Yan-Liang %K African Continental Ancestry Group %K Aged %K Aged, 80 and over %K Aging %K Cognitive Dysfunction %K European Continental Ancestry Group %K Female %K Health Status Disparities %K Humans %K Male %K Neuropsychological tests %K Risk Factors %K Severity of Illness Index %K United States %X

Blacks are especially hard hit by cognitive impairment at older ages compared to whites. Here, we take advantage of the Health and Retirement Study (1998-2010) to assess how this racial divide in cognitive impairment is associated with the racial stratification of life course exposures and resources over a 12-year period among 8,946 non-Hispanic whites and blacks ages 65 and older in 1998. We find that blacks suffer from a higher risk of moderate/severe cognitive impairment at baseline and during the follow-up. Blacks are also more likely to report childhood adversity and to have grown up in the segregated South, and these early-life adversities put blacks at a significantly higher risk of cognitive impairment. Adulthood socioeconomic status is strongly associated with the risk of cognitive impairment, net of childhood conditions. However, racial disparities in cognitive impairment, though substantially reduced, are not eliminated when controlling for these life course factors.

%B J Health Soc Behav %V 57 %P 184-99 %8 2016 06 %G eng %U http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27247126 %N 2 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27247126?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1177/0022146516645925