INS NYC 2024 Program

Poster	Poster Session 08 Program Schedule 02/16/2024 01:45 pm - 03:00 pm Room: Shubert Complex (Posters 1-60) Poster Session 08: Cognition \| Cognitive Reserve Variables Final Abstract #6 Lifetime Stress Exposure, Social Support and Cognition in Older Latinos and Non-Latino Whites: A Preliminary Investigation Mathena Abramson, Boston University, Boston, United States Jairo Martinez, Boston University, Boston, United States Danae Gaytan, Boston University, Boston, United States Alene Saavedra, Boston University, Boston, United States Valentina Pinilla, Boston University, Boston, United States George Slavich, University of Californa, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, United States Alice Cronin-Golomb, Boston University, Boston, United States Yakeel Quiroz, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States Martha Tompson, Boston University, Boston, United States Category: Aging Keyword 1: chronic stress Keyword 2: cognitive functioning Objective: Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders (ADRD) are more prevalent in Latinos than in non-Latino Whites. Elevated levels of chronic stress have been associated with an increased risk of ADRD. Higher levels of stress have been found in US Latinos than non-Latino Whites. Social support and family cohesion may mitigate the negative effects of chronic stress. Latino cultural factors (e.g., familismo) that enhance perceived family support may be protective against cognitive decline in Latino adults at risk of ADRD. We investigated the relationship between lifetime stress exposure and cognition and how family support may modify this association differentially in Latino and non-Latino White older adults. Participants and Methods: 22 non-demented Latino and 20 non-Latino White adults (ages 65-85) were administered the following measures in their preferred language (Spanish or English): Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale IV/Escala de Inteligencia Wechsler para Adultos III: Digit Span, NEUROPSI Breve/Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised, Mini-Mental State Examination, and Delis-Kaplan Executive Functioning System: Verbal and Category Fluency. Participants filled out the Stress and Adversity Inventory (STRAIN) to assess cumulative stress exposure and severity, and the Family Environment Scale: Cohesion subscale, a self-report measure of perceived family togetherness and support. T-tests and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests were used to compare groups. Controlling for ethnicity, age, and education level, we used generalized linear models and penalized splines and tensor products in generalized additive models to assess non-linearities in main effects and interactions. Results: There were no significant differences in lifetime stress count or severity across ethnic groups (p’s>.37). White adults had significantly higher family cohesion levels than Latino adults (p=0.017). There was a significant, nonlinear interaction between family cohesion and lifetime stress severity on participants’ overall Digit Span performance (p=.033). At low lifetime stress severity, the family cohesion curve was U-shaped, with the higher Digit Span scores at high and low family cohesion. The highest overall scores were among individuals with low lifetime stress severity and low cohesion or individuals with high lifetime stress severity and high cohesion. The lowest overall Digit Span scores were among individuals with low lifetime stress severity and low family cohesion at the first quintile. Other associations and interactions between the moderation of family support on lifetime stress and cognitive performance were not significant (p’s>.091). Conclusions: Our preliminary findings suggest that lifetime stress exposure does not differ across ethnic groups, and does not appear to be related to global cognition or memory performance in older adults. Further, family support may play a complex role in modulating the effects of lifetime stress exposure on cognition, particularly when measured with Digit Span, a test of auditory attention and working memory abilities. Perhaps other social determinants of health related to chronic stress or other aspects of stress not studied here may contribute to the disparity in risk for ADRD between Latino and non-Latino Whites. Future studies with larger samples are needed to confirm these findings and further examine the relation between chronic stress and cognition in Latino and non-Latino Whites.

Poster

02/16/2024
01:45 pm - 03:00 pm
Room: Shubert Complex (Posters 1-60)

Poster Session 08: Cognition | Cognitive Reserve Variables

Final Abstract #6

Lifetime Stress Exposure, Social Support and Cognition in Older Latinos and Non-Latino Whites: A Preliminary Investigation

Mathena Abramson, Boston University, Boston, United States
Jairo Martinez, Boston University, Boston, United States
Danae Gaytan, Boston University, Boston, United States
Alene Saavedra, Boston University, Boston, United States
Valentina Pinilla, Boston University, Boston, United States
George Slavich, University of Californa, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, United States
Alice Cronin-Golomb, Boston University, Boston, United States
Yakeel Quiroz, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
Martha Tompson, Boston University, Boston, United States

Category: Aging

Keyword 1: chronic stress
Keyword 2: cognitive functioning

Objective:

Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders (ADRD) are more prevalent in Latinos than in non-Latino Whites. Elevated levels of chronic stress have been associated with an increased risk of ADRD. Higher levels of stress have been found in US Latinos than non-Latino Whites. Social support and family cohesion may mitigate the negative effects of chronic stress. Latino cultural factors (e.g., familismo) that enhance perceived family support may be protective against cognitive decline in Latino adults at risk of ADRD. We investigated the relationship between lifetime stress exposure and cognition and how family support may modify this association differentially in Latino and non-Latino White older adults.

Participants and Methods:

22 non-demented Latino and 20 non-Latino White adults (ages 65-85) were administered the following measures in their preferred language (Spanish or English): Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale IV/Escala de Inteligencia Wechsler para Adultos III: Digit Span, NEUROPSI Breve/Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised, Mini-Mental State Examination, and Delis-Kaplan Executive Functioning System: Verbal and Category Fluency. Participants filled out the Stress and Adversity Inventory (STRAIN) to assess cumulative stress exposure and severity, and the Family Environment Scale: Cohesion subscale, a self-report measure of perceived family togetherness and support. T-tests and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests were used to compare groups. Controlling for ethnicity, age, and education level, we used generalized linear models and penalized splines and tensor products in generalized additive models to assess non-linearities in main effects and interactions.

Results:

There were no significant differences in lifetime stress count or severity across ethnic groups (p’s>.37). White adults had significantly higher family cohesion levels than Latino adults (p=0.017). There was a significant, nonlinear interaction between family cohesion and lifetime stress severity on participants’ overall Digit Span performance (p=.033). At low lifetime stress severity, the family cohesion curve was U-shaped, with the higher Digit Span scores at high and low family cohesion. The highest overall scores were among individuals with low lifetime stress severity and low cohesion or individuals with high lifetime stress severity and high cohesion. The lowest overall Digit Span scores were among individuals with low lifetime stress severity and low family cohesion at the first quintile. Other associations and interactions between the moderation of family support on lifetime stress and cognitive performance were not significant (p’s>.091).

Conclusions:

Our preliminary findings suggest that lifetime stress exposure does not differ across ethnic groups, and does not appear to be related to global cognition or memory performance in older adults. Further, family support may play a complex role in modulating the effects of lifetime stress exposure on cognition, particularly when measured with Digit Span, a test of auditory attention and working memory abilities. Perhaps other social determinants of health related to chronic stress or other aspects of stress not studied here may contribute to the disparity in risk for ADRD between Latino and non-Latino Whites. Future studies with larger samples are needed to confirm these findings and further examine the relation between chronic stress and cognition in Latino and non-Latino Whites.