Race Differences in Cognitive Functioning Among Older Adults

Abstract

Objectives. Explaining race differences in cognitive functioning in later life continues to challenge researchers. This study was an attempt to incorporate the clinical literature, emphasizing biological correlates of cognitive functioning, and the social research literature, emphasizing social inequalities and consequent health outcomes, in the examination of sources of race differences in cognitive functioning in older adults.Methods. With data from Wave 1 of the Assets and Health Dynamics of the Oldest Old survey, the authors used structural equation models (LISREL 8.30) to estimate the direct effects of race on cognitive functioning and indirect effects through social and biological risk factors for the total sample ( N ϭ 5,955).Results. Race had a direct association with cognitive functioning. Race also had indirect effects on cognitive functioning through social risk factors-education and health insurance. There did not appear to be indirect effects of race through biological risk factors.Discussion. The direct and indirect effects of race through social risk factors attest to the importance of examining different ways through which race can influence cognitive functioning of older adults. This research also emphasizes the need for researchers to investigate more closely race differences in dimensions of cognitive functioning and cognitive functioning over time.

Different Context but Similar Cognitive Structures: Older Adults in Rural Bangladesh

“…The perhaps most striking difference between this study and previous comparable work is the inclusion of sixty percent illiterates. We think that an important reason for performing studies of, for example, the structure of cognitive functions in very different (compared to Europe or USA) cultures is that the relative importance of background variables may vary (e.g., Sternäng, et al, 2012), representing the possibility of different causal mechanisms across cultures and/or effects due to inherent differences in the variables at focus (Zsembik & Peek, 2001). The present study shows that such variations are however not exerting a major impact on a very fundamental prerequisite in cognitive aging research: The structure of long-term declarative memory.…”

Characterizing and Explaining Differences in Cognitive Test Performance Between African American and European American Older Adults

“…This study is unique from Manly et al's work in that it utilized data from a normal cognitive aging study: the unusual resource of the pilot study for the ACTIVE (Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly) clinical trial (Jobe, Smith, Ball, et al, 2001;Ball, Berch, Helmers, Jobe, Leveck, Marsiske, Morris, Rebok, Smith, Tennstedt, Unverzagt, & Willis, 2002), which included a substantial over-sampling of African American participants (n= 95, approximately 60% of the pilot sample) and a relatively wide sampling of measures commonly examined in cognitive aging research. This pilot sample was also unique in that the African American participants were significantly younger but had the same years of education as the European Americans in the sample (n= 67) (see Table 1), in contrast to many other studies (Zsembik & Peek, 2001). While this African American sample could be considered particularly non-representative, thereby limiting the generalizability of findings, it has the benefit of constituting a "natural experiment" in which cognitive differences between groups that are due to years of education would be expected to be minimized.…”

“…There have been several studies examining the role of education quality, as approximated by reading achievement, in accounting for racial group differences in cognitive and neuropsychological test performance (Manly, Jacobs, Sano, Bell, Merchant, Small, & Stern, 1999;Manly et al , 2003Manly et al , 2004aManly et al , 2004bZsembik & Peek, 2001). First, Manly et al (1999) compared neuropsychological test performance in non-demented literate and illiterate elderly adults and found an overall effect for literacy status on neuropsychological test performance when groups were matched on years of education (Manly et al, 1999).…”

“…While it is likely that numerous mediating factors (e.g., education, health conditions, and socioeconomic status, etc.) account for the lower performance of African Americans on tests of cognitive ability and functioning, several researchers have noted that such demographic and health factors are infrequently considered in many existing published studies exploring racial group differences in cognition (Whitfield, Fillenbaum, Pieper, Albert, Berkman, Blazer, Rowe, & Seeman, 2000; IzquierdoRorrera & Waldstein, 2002;Zsembik & Peek, 2001). …”

Racial and Ethnic Disparities Among Individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease in the United States: A Literature Review

“…These socioeconomic characteristics are more common among older people with cognitive impairment, as shown in Figure 5 Several studies have examined the effects of racial inequalities in education on long-term consequences for cognitive functioning. Lower levels of educational attainment are associated with lower levels of cognitive functioning (Sachs-Ericsson & Blazer, 2005;Zsembik & Peek, 2001). Education can mediate racial disparitites in cognitive decline, but it alone does not eliminate those disparities.…”