Early Life Development in a Multiethnic Sample and the Relation to Late Life Cognition

This study was conducted using the UC Davis Aging Diversity cohort, an ethnically diverse sample of Caucasian, African American, and Hispanic individuals from northern California. We used latent variable modeling to measure growth and childhood socioeconomic environment (SES) and examine their associations with longitudinal cognitive outcomes using mixed effects modeling. Results. Growth was positively related to higher childhood SES. Higher childhood SES was associated with better semantic memory. Both low growth and low SES were associated with increased rate of cognitive decline. Discussion. These findings demonstrate that early life experiences influence the trajectory of cognitive aging. Early life development and experience appears to provide a distal basis upon which additional risk and protective factors interact in the development of dementia.
Source: Journals of Gerontology: Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences - Category: Geriatrics Authors: Tags: Original Research Report Source Type: research