ArticleThe journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences2022
Racial Disparities in Cognitive Function Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults: The Roles of Cumulative Stress Exposures Across the Life Course.
Article in The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 50 papers.
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Who cites it
50 citing papers in PubMed, 58 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Linking perceived stress and cognitive aging: The influence of blood pressure in Black Americans.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2026Article
- Relations of left ventricular mass and hypertrophy to cognitive function in urban dwelling African American and White adults.Neuropsychology · 2026Article
- Is the 10-Year Trajectory of Physical Activity Associated With the Incidence of Mild Cognitive Impairment in Older Adults?Psychogeriatrics : the official journal of the Japanese Psychogeriatric Society · 2026Article
- Independent and joint associations of key social exposome components with cognitive aging: triangulating evidence through cross-national data.American journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- Racial Trauma and Black Mothers' Mental Health: Does Cognitive Flexibility Buffer the Effects of Racialized Stress?Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2026Article
- Loss, inflammation, and cognition: Understanding the lifecourse impact of early life parental disruption.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2026Article
- Racial and Ethnic Differences in Caregiving Networks and Unmet Care Needs Among People Living With Cognitive Impairment.Research on aging · 2026Article
- Implementing brain health strategies in primary care: methods and baseline findings from the BHAM registry.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2025Article
- Disparities in the Life Course Origins of Dual Functionality.Journal of health and social behavior · 2025Article
- Racial Stress, Social Support, and Racial Socialization Among Rural Black Mothers: Associations With Preschoolers' Executive Functioning.Family process · 2025Article
- Quality of life, religion/spirituality, and dementia risk among Black people in the US.Aging & mental health · 2025Observational
- Sustained Purpose in Life is Associated With Slower Cognitive Decline in Older Adults: A Longitudinal Analysis With a Diverse National Sample.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2025Article
- Psychological Resilience and Cognitive Functioning in Black and White Men and Women.The Gerontologist · 2025Article
- Cardiometabolic Multimorbidity and Dementia Onset Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults: Differences by Race/Ethnicity.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2025Observational
- Religiosity, Religious Beliefs, and Cognitive Impairment Among Black and White Men With Modest Incomes.Journal of aging and health · 2025Article
- Life course exposure to work strain and cognitive disparities by race and ethnicity.SSM - population health · 2025Article
- Racialized experience, biomarkers of lead exposure, and later-life cognition: a mediation analysis.American journal of epidemiology · 2025Article
- Lifetime chronic stress exposures, stress hormones, and biological aging: Results from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundRacial disparities in cognitive function are well documented, but factors driving these disparities remain underexplored. This study aims to quantify the extent to which cumulative stress exposures across the life course explain Black-White disparities in executive function and episodic memory in middle-aged and older adults.
methodData were drawn from the 2004-2006 wave of the Midlife Development in the United States Study (MIDUS 2) and the MIDUS Refresher study (N = 5,947; 5,262 White and 685 Black). Cumulative stress exposures were assessed by 10 stressor domains (ie, childhood stress, stressful life events in adulthood, financial stress, work psychological stress, work physical stress, work-family conflicts, neighborhood disorder, relationship stress, perceived inequality, and perceived discrimination). Cognitive function was assessed using the Brief Test of Adult Cognition by Telephone. Marginal structural models were used to quantify the proportion of the effect of race/ethnicity status on cognitive function mediated through cumulative stress exposures.
resultsAfter adjusting for age, sex, and sample, on average, Black participants had lower levels of executive function (difference: -0.83 SD units, 95% CI: -0.91, -0.75) and episodic memory (difference: -0.53 SD units, 95% CI: -0.60, -0.45) scores than White participants. Cumulative stress exposures accounted for 8.4% of the disparity in executive function and 13.2% of the disparity in episodic memory.
conclusionsCumulative stress exposures across the life course explained modest proportions of Black-White disparities in cognitive function in this large cross-sectional study.
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