Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34166026›Full record

ArticlePsychology and aging2021

Associations between life course marital biography and late-life memory decline.

Afsara B Zaheed, Neika Sharifian, Emily P Morris, A Zarina Kraal, Laura B Zahodne

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Psychology and aging, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
2.4field-weighted citation impact, top 11% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Marital status, brain health, and cognitive reserve among diverse older adults.Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society : JINS · 2025
    Article
  2. Marital Loss and Cognitive Function: Does Timing Matter?The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2022
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Psychosocial Protective Factors in Cognitive Aging: A Targeted Review.Archives of clinical neuropsychology : the official journal of the National Academy of Neuropsychologists · 2021
    Review
  5. Observational
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Afsara B ZaheedDepartment of Psychology.ORCID 0000-0002-2872-6896
Neika SharifianDepartment of Psychology.
Emily P MorrisDepartment of Psychology.ORCID 0000-0002-9709-6023
A Zarina KraalDepartment of Psychology.ORCID 0000-0002-4466-3514
Laura B ZahodneDepartment of Psychology.

Funding

HRS Yrs29-34: Y33 SSA CoFundingU01AG009740 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI Jessica Faul, KENNETH M LANGA · 1990 to 2026
$555.8M
Enhancing Retrospective Life History Data in the Health and Retirement Study- RenewalR01AG051142 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI SMITH, JACQUI · 2015 to 2023
$8.1M
Resilience Mechanisms Underlying Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Alzheimer’s DiseaseR01AG054520 · NIA · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · PI BRICKMAN, ADAM M, ZAHODNE, LAURA B · 2017 to 2021
$5.8M
Psychosocial Protective Factors in Cognitive and Brain AgingR00AG047963 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI ZAHODNE, LAURA B · 2016 to 2018
$746k
Racial and gender disparities in sleep as modifiable determinants of cognitive aging.F31AG067717 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI ZAHEED, AFSARA BINTE · 2020 to 2021
$72k
NIA NIH HHS F31 AG067717NIA NIH HHS R00 AG047963NIA NIH HHS R01 AG051142NIA NIH HHS R01 AG054520NIA NIH HHS U01 AG009740
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Late-life marital status is associated with cognitive aging; however, the influence of life course marital biography (i.e., changes in marital status) on late-life cognitive trajectories, as well as gender differences in the effects of marital biography, remain to be explored. Associations between (a) marital status at study baseline (currently married, previously married, never married) and (b) retrospectively reported life course marital biography (i.e., age at first marriage, time spent unmarried following initial marriage, history of divorce, history of widowhood) and up to 20 years of subsequent episodic memory trajectories were examined using latent growth curve models in 3,061 participants aged 51 + in the Health and Retirement Study 2017 Life History Mail Survey. Gender differences were examined with multiplicative interaction terms and stratified models. Participants who were married at study baseline demonstrated higher initial memory than previously and never married individuals. Older age at first marriage and shorter duration spent unmarried were each associated with better initial episodic memory among previously married individuals only; longer duration spent unmarried was associated with slower memory decline. Stratified models suggested that these associations may be driven by women. These results highlight the importance of considering multiple aspects of marital biography, not just current marital status, in cognitive aging research. Marital biography may have an enduring influence on cognitive aging, particularly among previously married older women. Future work is needed to identify mechanisms (e.g., socioeconomic resources, cognitive stimulation, self and spousal health, emotional support) through which marital histories influence cognitive aging. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Indexed as

AdolescentAdultAgedAged, 80 and overCognitionCognitive AgingFemaleHealth StatusHumansMaleMarital StatusMarriageMemory DisordersMemory, EpisodicMiddle AgedRetrospective Studies

Identifiers

PMID34166026
PMCPMC8349853
OpenAlexW3176168258

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.