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Since the early 2000s, it is increasingly common that people have short sleep durations (

This study explores the influence of Black adults’ Alzheimer’s disease (AD) knowledge and family history of AD on cognition. A sample of Black adults (n=66, age range=45-84) completed a computerized cognitive (CogState Brief) battery and surveys of AD knowledge, family history of AD diagnosis, and health. On the 14-item AD knowledge survey, participants correctly answered a mean of 10.80 (SD=1.50) items. Approximately, 56% reported a biological family member diagnosed with AD, of these 30% reported this being a mother or father. Linear regression models suggested no significant association between AD knowledge and cognitive performance. However, adults with a family member diagnosed with AD had worse visual learning accuracy even after adjusting for age, education, and income. Increased age was associated with worse processing speed, particularly in adults with a mother diagnosed with AD. These findings demonstrate the importance of examining the influence of family history on Black adults’ cognitive health.

ObjectivesA comprehensive examination of resilience by race, ethnicity, and neighborhood socioeconomic status (NSES) among women aged ≥80 is needed, given the aging of the US population, increasing longevity, and growing racial and ethnic diversity.MethodsParticipants were women aged ≥80 enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI). Resilience was assessed with a modified version of the Brief Resilience Scale. Descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression examined the association of demographic, health, and psychosocial variables with resilience by race, ethnicity, and NSES.ResultsParticipants (n=29,367, median age=84.3) were White (91.4%), Black (3.7%), Hispanic (1.9%), and Asian (1.7%) women. There were no significant differences by race and ethnicity on mean resiliency scores (p=0.06). Significant differences by NSES were observed regarding mean resiliency scores between those with low NSES (3.94±0.83, out of 5) and high NSES (4.00±0.81). Older age, higher education, higher self-rated health, lower stress, and living alone were significant positive correlates of resilience in the sample. Social support was correlated with resilience among White, Black, and Asian women, but not for Hispanic women. Depression was a significant correlate of lower resilience, except among Asian women. Living alone, smoking, and spirituality were significantly associated with higher resilience among women with moderate NSES.DiscussionMultiple factors were associated with resilience among women aged ≥80 in the WHI. Despite some differing correlates of resilience by race, ethnicity, and NSES, there were many similarities. These results may aid in the design of resilience interventions for the growing, increasingly diverse population of older women.

Objective Cognitive functioning is associated with instrumental activity of daily living (IADL) performance among older adults. The present study examines potential differences in the prevalence of IADL difficulty and association with cognition across diverse groups. Method Participants included 455 non-Hispanic Whites, 395 Blacks, 370 Asians, and 296 Latinos aged 65 years and older without a current dementia diagnosis from the Kaiser Healthy Aging and Diverse Life Experience cohort. Participants’ self-reported IADL functioning and cognition was measured across episodic memory and executive functioning. Results Older age, male gender, and being Black were associated with more IADL difficulties. Executive functioning showed a stronger association with IADLs than memory, and it was independent of health status, whereas memory was not. In joint models including both cognitive domains, executive functioning remained a significant predictor of IADL difficulty, but memory did not. Results for both cognitive domains were attenuated with self-rated health added to the joint model. These relationships did not significantly differ across racial/ethnic groups Conclusions Our study supports previous work suggesting that Black older adults are at increased risk for IADL disability. This is the first study we are aware of that examined the association between specific cognitive domains and IADL performance across multiple racial/ethnic groups. Findings indicate that cognitive functioning has similar associations with self-reported IADL disability across diverse groups, and that executive functioning plays a particularly important role in IADL disability among older adults without dementia; however, health status largely attenuates the relationship between IADL difficulty and cognition.

Objectives Identifying sociocultural correlates of neurocognitive dysfunction among Hispanics/Latinos, and their underlying biological pathways, is crucial for understanding disparities in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. We examined cross-sectional associations between stress and neurocognition, and the role that metabolic syndrome (MetS) and systemic inflammation might play in these associations. Method Participants included 3,045 adults aged 45–75 (56% female, education 0–20+ years, 86% Spanish-speaking, 23% U.S.-born), enrolled in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos and its Sociocultural Ancillary Study. Global neurocognition was the primary outcome and operationalized as the average of the z scores of measures of learning and memory, word fluency, and processing speed. Stress measures included self-report assessments of stress appraisal (perceived and acculturative stress) and exposure to chronic and traumatic stressors. MetS was defined via established criteria including waist circumference, high blood pressure, elevated triglycerides, fasting plasma glucose, and high levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Systemic inflammation was represented by high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP). Results Separate survey multivariable linear regression models adjusting for covariates showed that higher perceived (b = −0.004, SE = 0.002, p < .05) and acculturative stress (b = −0.004, SE = 0.001, p < .0001) were significantly associated with worse global neurocognition, while lifetime exposure to traumatic stressors was associated with better global neurocognition (b = 0.034, SE = 0.009, p < .001). Neither MetS nor hs-CRP were notable pathways in the association between stress and neurocognition; rather, they were both independently associated with worse neurocognition in models including stress measures (ps < .05). Discussion These cross-sectional analyses suggest that stress appraisal, MetS, and systemic inflammation may be targets to reduce neurocognitive dysfunction among Hispanics/Latinos.