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Objectives: This study explored the association between place-based characteristics (e.g., neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation) and physical health within older Black adults, a critical gap in the literature as identified by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities., Methods: The sample was from Wave 1 data of Baltimore Study of Black Aging: Patterns of Cognitive Aging (N = 450; Mage = 68.34). Variables included the area deprivation index (ADI), objective (e.g., average blood pressure) and subjective (e.g., self-rated health) measures of physical health. Multiple linear regression models were conducted controlling for key sociodemographic characteristics., Results: Participants reporting better self-rated health and less likely to need help with activities of daily living were significantly more likely to be living in more disadvantaged neighborhoods based on national and state ADI, respectively, even after adjusting for covariates. A significant age and ADI interaction revealed better self-rated health was associated with a more disadvantaged neighborhood particularly for individuals ≤66 years. There was no significant association between ADI and objective physical health measures., Discussion: The findings suggest that national- and state-level place-based characteristics should be considered along with individual-level factors, which can enrich the scientific understanding of how neighborhood characteristics relate to varying health indicators among older Black adults., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Objectives: This study examined engagement levels across various domains of leisure activities in community-dwelling Black adults (age range = 50-80 years) and variability in daily leisure activity engagement and positive affect (PA; positive emotions or mood) and negative affect (NA; negative emotions or mood). Additionally, we explored whether PA and NA were associated with leisure activity engagement and whether these associations varied by sociodemographics., Methods: Fifty adults (78% women; mean education = 11.62 years, standard deviation = 2.4) reported affect and leisure activity engagement over 8 occasions (2-3 weeks)., Results: Participants averaged 3 leisure activities/day with more engagement in watching television (news), walking, reading, and visiting others. Multilevel models identified significant within-person variation across domains of leisure activity engagement. A significant main effect was observed between daily NA and reduced social activity engagement. A significant interaction between NA and education was further illustrated on those occasions when NA was higher than usual, social and total leisure activity engagement tended to be lower, particularly for adults with ≤10 years of education. A significant interaction between NA and education was observed for entertainment activities. However, results indicated adults with ≥14 years of education, and a mean NA above the sample average, tended to engage in more entertainment activities. Finally, a significant interaction between PA and age was observed indicating adults aged ≥73 had a greater social engagement, particularly when daily PA was heightened., Discussion: Results demonstrate within-person changes in the types of leisure engagement among Black adults. Potential factors related to these changes may result from interconnections between affect and demographic factors (age and education)., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Objectives: The theory of selective survival suggests that possibly around 70-75 years of age, Blacks may display substantive changes in their pattern of cognitive decline. This study examined the age-graded pattern of cognitive decline within older Blacks by describing a trend that characterizes differences in the change of cognitive decline from ages 51.5 to 95.5, and hypothesized that this age-graded pattern is nonlinear., Method: Utilizing 2 waves of longitudinal data from the Baltimore Study of Black Aging, this study used multilevel modeling to test whether the interaction between age and the 3-year study period (time between waves) had a positive effect on changes in inductive reasoning, declarative memory, working memory, and perceptual speed., Results: A significant positive interaction between age and wave was found for inductive reasoning, demonstrating an age-grade pattern of change/decline in cognitive pattern for Blacks aged 51.5-95.4. Simple slope probing via the Johnson-Neyman Technique suggested that Black adults ~64 years and younger experienced significant decline in inductive reasoning across study time, whereas for those older than 63.71, the decline was nonsignificant. No significant age-wave interactions were found for declarative memory, working memory, or perceptual speed., Discussion: Findings suggest a selective survival effect for inductive reasoning ability among Blacks. With decline evident so early, common cognitive intervention programs targeting adults 65+ may come too late for Blacks, signifying the importance and urgency for early health interventions and public policy designed to promote cognitive reserve., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Objectives: The present study examined potential sources of intra- and inter-individual differences in older adults' control beliefs using a micro-longitudinal design., Method: Older adults (n = 205) ranging in age from 60 to 94 (M = 72.70, SD = 6.72) completed 8 in-person testing sessions within 3 weeks which included assessments of control beliefs (Locus of Control and Perceived Competence), physical health (physical symptoms and sleep self-efficacy), stressors, emotional well-being (Positive Affect and Negative Affect), and cognition (basic cognition tests, everyday cognition, and memory failures)., Results: Multilevel models indicated that on days when older adults had higher sleep self-efficacy, more positive affect, and less negative affect, they also had more internal locus of control and higher perceived competence. Having stressors on the previous occasion was associated with lower internal locus of control on the subsequent occasion. Physical symptoms, everyday cognition, and memory failures could be predictive of locus of control for some older adults., Discussion: Our findings showed the differentiated antecedents of locus of control and perceived competence, the unique role of sleep self-efficacy, positive affect, and negative affect in understanding antecedents of both, as well as the need to study well-being and cognition antecedents of control beliefs in future studies., (© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Objective: The purpose of the current study is to examine the association between subjective memory complaints and sleep (quantity and quality) in African American older adults., Method: Participants from the Baltimore Study of Black Aging (BSBA; n = 351; mean age = 71.99) completed a self-report sleep scale, subjective memory complaint scale, global cognitive status measure, and demographic questionnaire., Results: Worse overall sleep quality was significantly associated with subjective reports of difficulty recalling the placement of objects, recalling specific facts from reading materials, and worse memory currently compared to the past. Specific sleep parameters (e.g., longer sleep latency and shorter sleep duration) were associated with negative appraisals of participants' ability to do specific tasks involving memory (e.g., difficulty recalling placement of objects). Participants classified as poor sleepers (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI] total score > 5) were more likely to report worse memory now compared to the past than participants classified as good sleepers (PSQI total score ≤ 5)., Conclusions: Evaluation of sleep may be warranted when older adults, particularly African Americans, communicate concerns regarding their memory. Insufficient sleep may be a useful marker of acute daytime dysfunction and, perhaps, cognitive decline. Given memory problems are the hallmark of dementia, our findings support further evaluation of whether poor sleep can aid in the diagnosis of cognitive impairment.

Objectives: The present study examined the relationship between desegregated schooling and cognitive change in a sample of 420 community-dwelling African American elders (mean age = 68.6; SD = 9.1)., Method: Participants were recruited for the Baltimore Study of Black Aging - Patterns of Cognitive Aging. Cognitive measures from six domains of function were administered at baseline and follow-up 33 months later. Repeated measures multivariate analysis of covariance was conducted; the between subjects factors were schooling type and age cohort, and the within subjects factor was time. Analyses controlled for age, years of education, and sex, and follow-up univariate analyses were used to determine which individual cognitive scores drove the multivariate effects., Results: There were significant multivariate within-group, between-group, and interaction effects (p < .05). Univariate analyses indicated that the desegregated schooling group scored significantly better on Language and Perceptual Speed (p < .01), and the youngest age cohort (50- to 59-year-olds) performed better on measures of Perceptual Speed. There were no significant univariate interactions between schooling group or age cohort and cognitive change over time., Discussion: Overall, these findings suggest a slight advantage of desegregated schooling for cognitive performance, but no advantage of desegregated schooling on the rate of cognitive change over time in this sample., (© The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

In this study, we examined the relationship between within-person blood pressure and cognitive functioning. We conducted an analysis on 36 community-dwelling elderly individuals (age range = 60-87 years). Participants measured their blood pressure and completed cognitive tasks (i.e., the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Task, the Letter Series test, and the Number Comparison test) twice a day over 60 consecutive days. We observed a significant interaction between within-person change in blood pressure and average blood pressure for the Letter Series test. Individuals with high blood pressure tended to perform poorly, particularly on occasions when their blood pressure level was above their personal average. These results demonstrate that the relationship between blood pressure and cognition at the between-person level and the relationship within each individual should be further explored simultaneously.

The knowledge gained from studying diverse populations should help to address inequities and prepare us to deal with the needs of the increasing number of older minorities in this country. At the same time, research that is not properly conducted threatens to lead us astray and misconstrue relationships and outcomes related to behavioral aspects of aging. In this article, we propose that simple comparisons between groups are neither necessary nor sufficient to advance our understanding of ethnic minorities. We discuss common pitfalls conducted in group-differences research, including a specific treatment on the issue of statistical power issues. Our goal is to encourage the use of multiple methodological designs in the study of issues related to racial and ethnic minorities by demonstrating some of the advantages of lesser employed approaches.

This study used latent variable growth curve modeling to identify predictors and correlates of verbal learning over trials on a list-learning task in patients with dementia. Data from 116 patients evaluated at the Detroit satellite of the Michigan Alzheimer's Disease Research Center were incorporated in the present analyses. Patients were administered the Fuld Object Memory Evaluation, examined independently by a geriatrician, and, if appropriate, given a diagnosis of probable Alzheimer's disease according to criteria from the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke/Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association. The presence of dementia significantly predicted both the intercept (i.e., level of performance) and the slope (i.e., learning over trials), with dementia patients demonstrating lower overall levels of performance and less verbal learning over trials. Rate of verbal learning over trials was a significant predictor of everyday functioning (instrumental activities of daily living) above and beyond general cognitive impairment and demographics.