Zahodne Laura B, Morris Emily P, Sharifian Neika, Zaheed Afsara B, Kraal A Zarina, Sol Ketlyne
Department of Psychology, University of Michigan.
Neuropsychology. 2020 Aug 3. doi: 10.1037/neu0000693.
Previous research suggests that everyday discrimination is associated with worse concomitant performance in several cognitive domains, as well as faster subsequent declines in episodic memory. This study aimed to extend knowledge on the specificity, durability, and mechanisms of associations between everyday discrimination and cognition by using a comprehensive neuropsychological battery and a longitudinal mediation design.
Participants included 3,304 older adults in the Health and Retirement Study Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol. Discrimination was assessed using the Everyday Discrimination Scale. Depressive symptoms were assessed with the 8-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. Vascular diseases were quantified as the self-reported presence of hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to estimate episodic memory, executive functioning, processing speed, language, and visuoconstruction across a battery of 13 neuropsychological tests. Structural equation models controlled for sociodemographics and baseline cognition ascertained 2 to 4 years prior.
Discrimination was associated with more depressive symptoms and vascular diseases. Depressive symptoms mediated negative effects of discrimination on subsequent functioning across all 5 cognitive domains. Vascular diseases additionally mediated negative effects of discrimination on processing speed. After accounting for mediators, direct negative effects of discrimination remained for executive functioning and visuoconstruction.
This national longitudinal study in the United States provides evidence for broad and enduring effects of everyday discrimination on cognitive aging, which appear to be partially mediated by mental and physical health. Future research should examine additional mechanisms as well as moderators of these associations to better understand points of intervention. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
先前的研究表明，日常歧视与多个认知领域中更差的伴随表现相关，以及与情景记忆随后更快的衰退有关。本研究旨在通过使用一套全面的神经心理学测试组合和纵向中介设计，扩展关于日常歧视与认知之间关联的特异性、持续性和机制的知识。
参与者包括健康与退休研究统一认知评估协议中的3304名老年人。使用日常歧视量表评估歧视情况。使用8项流行病学研究中心抑郁量表评估抑郁症状。将血管疾病量化为自我报告的高血压、糖尿病和心脏病的存在情况。通过验证性因素分析，在一组13项神经心理学测试中估计情景记忆、执行功能、处理速度、语言和视觉构建能力。结构方程模型控制了社会人口统计学因素和2至4年前确定的基线认知情况。
歧视与更多的抑郁症状和血管疾病相关。抑郁症状介导了歧视对所有5个认知领域后续功能的负面影响。血管疾病还介导了歧视对处理速度的负面影响。在考虑了中介因素后，歧视对执行功能和视觉构建能力的直接负面影响仍然存在。
这项在美国进行的全国性纵向研究为日常歧视对认知衰老的广泛和持久影响提供了证据，这种影响似乎部分由心理健康和身体健康介导。未来的研究应该研究这些关联的其他机制以及调节因素，以更好地理解干预点。（PsycInfo数据库记录（c）美国心理学会2020年版权所有）
