P4‐636: the Role of Social Status and Chronic Stress for Racial Disparities in Cognitive Aging
Year: 2019
Type: article
Abstract: Racial disparities in cognitive aging are well established, with education hypothesized to play a key role via cognitive stimulation and the resulting contribution to cognitive reserve. In the broader health disparities literature, education is hypothesized to operate via its contribution to social status and association with discrimination, both of which influence experiences with chronic stress. We used structural equation modeling to test for mediational effects of subjective and objective measures of social status (household income; household wealth; perceived social status) and chronic stress (allostatic load, comprised of blood pressure, BMI, HbA1c, C-reactive protein and DHEA; perceived stress scale) in the relationships between race, education and cognitive function at two time points using data from the National Social Life Health and Aging Project. Household wealth mediated the relationships between race and time 2 cognition, and education and time 2 cognition at p<0.05. Household income and perceived social status were not significant mediators for either path. Perceived stress mediated the relationship between education and cognition at time 1 and 2 at p<0.05, but did not mediate the relationship between race and cognition. Allostatic load was not a significant mediator of race or education and cognition. The relationships between race and cognition, and education and cognition remained strong and highly significant in all models. Subjective chronic stress and objective social status play a role in racial disparities in cognitive aging after accounting for the effect of education. Further exploration of these relationships may help to differentiate education's role in Alzheimer's disease risk as operating through its effect on both cognitive stimulation and the chronic stress that is associated with being of lower socioeconomic status.
Source: Alzheimer s & Dementia
Institution: University of Arizona
Language: English
Subfield: Health
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2980763461