ArticleSocial science & medicine (1982)2020
Psychological distress links perceived neighborhood characteristics to longitudinal trajectories of cognitive health in older adulthood.
Article in Social science & medicine (1982), 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of neighborhood built environment on cognitive function in older adults: a systematic review.BMC geriatrics · 2024Pooled it
- Association Between Changes in Perceived Neighborhood and Cognitive Performance Within Healthy Aging in Neighborhoods of Diversity Across the Life Span (HANDLS) Black Adults.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- Neighborhood disorder impacts cognitive processing during navigation on a novel virtual reality paradigm.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Effect of Environment on the Cognition of Older Adults: A Narrative Review.Brain sciences · 2026Review
- Gender differences in the influence of environmental hazards on dementia in older adults.The Gerontologist · 2026Article
- Experiencing modular adaptive decentralized water security systems in southern Pakistan and implications for public health and nutrition: a qualitative exploratory study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Does physical and social neighborhood environment matter for two-year changes in functional abilities and cognitive function in the oldest old?The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2025Article
- Ageing well in the urban environment: meeting the health and social needs of older Adults - study protocol for a prospective, longitudinal mixed-methods study.BMC geriatrics · 2025Article
- Social context matters: Neighborhood environment as a moderator of the longitudinal relationship between edentulism and cognitive function among older adults in the United States.Archives of gerontology and geriatrics · 2025Article
- Impact of individual differences in cognitive reserve, stress, and busyness on episodic memory: an fMRI analysis of the Alabama Brain Study On Risk for Dementia.Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience · 2025Article
- Socioeconomic Disparities in Cognitive Impairment: The Role of Neighborhood Social Cohesion.Innovation in aging · 2025Article
- Does Religion Mitigate the Effect of Neighborhood Disorder on Cognitive Decline?: Evidence From a National Longitudinal Study of U.S. Older Adults.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2024Article
- The mediating role of frequent mental distress in the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and cognitive disability in emerging adults.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Lifetime adversity predicts depression, anxiety, and cognitive impairment in a nationally representative sample of older adults in the United States.Journal of clinical psychology · 2024Article
- Patterns of physical and mental co-occurring developmental health among Chinese elderly: A multidimensional growth mixture model analysis.SSM - population health · 2024Article
- Systematic Review of Longitudinal Evidence and Methodologies for Research on Neighborhood Characteristics and Brain Health.Public health reviews · 2024Review
- Neighborhood poverty and hopelessness in older adults: The mediating role of perceived neighborhood disorder.PloS one · 2024Article
- Neighborhood Cohesion Across the Life Course and Effects on Cognitive Aging.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2023Article
- Association of Perceived Neighborhood Environments With Cognitive Function in Older Adults.Journal of gerontological nursing · 2023Article
- Walkable Neighborhoods and Cognition: Implications for the Design of Health Promoting Communities.Journal of aging and health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
rationalePerceived neighborhood characteristics have been linked to cognitive health in older adulthood. The pathways through which neighborhood characteristics could influence cognition in older adulthood, however, have not been fully explored. Poorer quality neighborhoods may negatively influence cognition through feelings of psychological distress.
objectiveTo examine whether perceived neighborhood physical disorder and social cohesion were associated with change in episodic memory and semantic verbal fluency through anxiety and depressive symptoms.
methodsUsing the Health and Retirement Study (HRS; n = 13,919), mediation models were conducted. Change in cognition (episodic memory and semantic verbal fluency) were modeled using latent growth curve models.
resultsHigher physical disorder was associated with worse initial episodic memory and verbal fluency through greater anxiety symptoms. Higher social cohesion was associated with better initial episodic memory and verbal fluency through both lower anxiety and fewer depressive symptoms. Further, individuals with higher social. cohesion reported lower anxiety and in turn, showed a slower rate of verbal fluency decline. A direct effect of physical disorder on initial episodic memory remained, after accounting for indirect effects and covariates.
conclusionsOverall, individuals who live in neighborhoods with high physical disorder and low social cohesion may experience greater psychological distress. Symptoms of anxiety and depression may, in turn, interfere with cognitive functioning. Neighborhood characteristics may be an important, targetable area for intervention to improve not only mental health outcomes, but cognitive health outcomes in older adulthood.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.