| Poster | Poster Session 11 Program Schedule
02/17/2024
10:45 am - 12:00 pm
Room: Majestic Complex (Posters 61-120)
Poster Session 11: Cultural Neuropsychology | Education/Training | Professional Practice Issues
Final Abstract #81
The Indirect Effect of Allostatic Load on the Relationship Between Perceived Discrimination and Cognitive Functioning
Sarah Prieto, The Ohio State University, Columbus, United States
Savana Jurgens, The Ohio State University, Columbus, United States
Erica Howard, The Ohio State University, Columbus, United States
Jasmeet Hayes, The Ohio State University, Columbus, United States
Category: Other
Keyword 1: chronic stress
Keyword 2: aging (normal)
Keyword 3: neuropsychological assessment
Objective:
Perceived discrimination, characterized by unfair treatment based on various characteristics, is associated with adverse psychological and physical health outcomes. However, the mechanisms underlying the relationship between perceived discrimination and cognitive performance remain less explored. Allostasis, involving stress-induced cortisol release and inflammatory responses, plays a crucial role in navigating stressors. While adaptive in the short term, prolonged allostasis can lead to negative effects on health. Chronic discrimination-induced stress may contribute to high allostatic load, potentially affecting cognitive functioning. This study aims to investigate whether allostatic load mediates the link between discrimination and cognition, which will ultimately enhance our understanding of discrimination's impact.
Participants and Methods:
The study involved 862 participants aged 34-82 from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) cohort. Allostatic load was calculated using ten variables based on Seeman et al. (1997). As such, the following variables were included: Diastolic blood pressure, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), glycosylated hemoglobin, waist-hip ratio, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S), epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol. The variables within the highest risk quartile were scored 1, while those in the other quartiles were scored 0. The mediating effects of allostatic load on the association between discrimination and cognition were tested using PROCESS (Hayes, 2013). Bootstrapping with 10,000 data resampling was conducted to detect the indirect effects. Associations were adjusted for age, race, sex, and education. Mediation analyses examining change over time also adjusted for baseline cognitive functioning.
Results:
Results indicated that there was an indirect effect of allostatic load on the relationship between perceived discrimination and episodic memory at baseline (B =-0.0073, Bootstrapped 95% CI [-0.0190, -0.0001]). Results indicated that increased reports of discriminatory experiences were associated with increased allostatic load (B = 0.1649, p = 0.0088). Increased allostatic load was, in turn, associated with reduced memory (B = -0.044, p = 0.0381). Follow-up analyses revealed that this result was driven by everyday discrimination (B =-0.0012, Bootstrapped 95% CI [-0.0030, -0.0001]). By contrast, no indirect effect of allostatic load on the relationship between perceived discrimination and executive functions emerged (95% CI [-0.0142, 0.0009]). When examining longitudinal relationships, allostatic load did not mediate the relationship between discrimination and episodic memory (95% CI [-0.4070, 0.5928]) or executive functioning (95% CI [-0.4894, 0.4040]) rate of change indices.
Conclusions:
This study demonstrates that there is an indirect effect of allostatic load on the relationship between discrimination and episodic memory at one timepoint. Future research should continue to explore longitudinal associations and potential interventions to mitigate discrimination's impact on cognitive functioning.
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