INS NYC 2024 Program

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 #90 Cognitive Consequences of Job Discrimination Among Black and Latine Adults in a Nationally Representative Cohort Shana Samuel, The Graduate Center, CUNY, New York, United States Sandra Kennedy, The Graduate Center (CUNY), New York, United States Alice Gavarrete Olvera, The Graduate Center (CUNY); Queens College (CUNY), New York, United States Diego Cordova, Queens College (CUNY), New York, United States Desiree Byrd, The Graduate Center (CUNY); Queens College (CUNY), New York, United States Category: Cross Cultural Neuropsychology/ Clinical Cultural Neuroscience Keyword 1: cognitive functioning Keyword 2: diversity Objective: Psychosocial determinants of brain health are increasingly investigated within neuropsychology to explore mechanisms of racial and ethnic disparities in cognitive test performance. Discrimination is a form of oppression designed to restrict marginalized peoples’ access to equitable conditions and to perpetuate systems of disparities between groups. Although its association to cognition is variable, its measurement and conceptualization may be insufficiently sensitive to the experiences of Black and Latine communities, who differentially report discrimination compared to White counterparts and each other. Furthermore, previous studies of discrimination and cognition have primarily focused on interpersonal discrimination, rather than systemic forms of mistreatment. The current study hypothesized that job discrimination would predict worse cognitive outcomes among Black and Latine. Participants and Methods: Secondary data analyses were conducted among 550 community dwelling Black and Latine adults (M age = 60.89 (± 8.60); M education = 11.58 (± 3.76); 61.1% women) who were currently employed and enrolled in the nationally representative, longitudinal Health and Retirement Study. Race and ethnicity were determined by participant self-report. Episodic memory was assessed through immediate and delayed recall on a 10-item list-learning task. Job discrimination was measured using an abbreviated version of the Chronic Work Discrimination and Harassment scale (range = 6-36). Linear regression models were employed to examine the association between job discrimination and memory outcomes. Results: Compared to Latine participants (n = 221), Black respondents (n = 329) were older, had more years of education, and had higher income. There were no significant differences in reported job discrimination between Black and Latine participants. Overall, endorsement of job discrimination was low [M job discrimination = 10.29 (± 5.50)]. Compared to the 39% of the total sample reporting no experiences of job discrimination, participants who reported some job discrimination were younger. In unadjusted models among those who endorsed some workplace mistreatment, greater report of job discrimination predicted worse immediate recall scores among Latine (F(1,123) = 5.14, p < 0.05, R² = 0.04), but did not predict delayed memory scores. Job discrimination was also not associated with immediate or delayed memory scores among Black participants. Conclusions: Although it is imperative to address all forms of discrimination, the importance of identifying institutional discrimination is especially relevant for Black and Latine populations who continue to be disproportionately impacted by systems of racism. The current study is the first to explore the impact of job discrimination on brain health, but low report of discrimination within this sample may complicate its associations to cognition. Nevertheless, we found that higher report of job discrimination is associated with worse immediate recall in Latine. This group-specific relationship highlights the valuable study design of examining psychosocial determinants of cognitive function in separate race/ethnicity groups, which should be replicated in future investigations. Other studies should also examine confounding variables that may moderate endorsement of discrimination and expand investigations of additional cognitive domains.

Poster

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 #90

Cognitive Consequences of Job Discrimination Among Black and Latine Adults in a Nationally Representative Cohort

Shana Samuel, The Graduate Center, CUNY, New York, United States
Sandra Kennedy, The Graduate Center (CUNY), New York, United States
Alice Gavarrete Olvera, The Graduate Center (CUNY); Queens College (CUNY), New York, United States
Diego Cordova, Queens College (CUNY), New York, United States
Desiree Byrd, The Graduate Center (CUNY); Queens College (CUNY), New York, United States

Category: Cross Cultural Neuropsychology/ Clinical Cultural Neuroscience

Keyword 1: cognitive functioning
Keyword 2: diversity

Objective:

Psychosocial determinants of brain health are increasingly investigated within neuropsychology to explore mechanisms of racial and ethnic disparities in cognitive test performance. Discrimination is a form of oppression designed to restrict marginalized peoples’ access to equitable conditions and to perpetuate systems of disparities between groups. Although its association to cognition is variable, its measurement and conceptualization may be insufficiently sensitive to the experiences of Black and Latine communities, who differentially report discrimination compared to White counterparts and each other. Furthermore, previous studies of discrimination and cognition have primarily focused on interpersonal discrimination, rather than systemic forms of mistreatment. The current study hypothesized that job discrimination would predict worse cognitive outcomes among Black and Latine.

Participants and Methods:

Secondary data analyses were conducted among 550 community dwelling Black and Latine adults (M age = 60.89 (± 8.60); M education = 11.58 (± 3.76); 61.1% women) who were currently employed and enrolled in the nationally representative, longitudinal Health and Retirement Study. Race and ethnicity were determined by participant self-report. Episodic memory was assessed through immediate and delayed recall on a 10-item list-learning task. Job discrimination was measured using an abbreviated version of the Chronic Work Discrimination and Harassment scale (range = 6-36). Linear regression models were employed to examine the association between job discrimination and memory outcomes.

Results:

Compared to Latine participants (n = 221), Black respondents (n = 329) were older, had more years of education, and had higher income. There were no significant differences in reported job discrimination between Black and Latine participants. Overall, endorsement of job discrimination was low [M job discrimination = 10.29 (± 5.50)]. Compared to the 39% of the total sample reporting no experiences of job discrimination, participants who reported some job discrimination were younger. In unadjusted models among those who endorsed some workplace mistreatment, greater report of job discrimination predicted worse immediate recall scores among Latine (F(1,123) = 5.14, p < 0.05, R² = 0.04), but did not predict delayed memory scores. Job discrimination was also not associated with immediate or delayed memory scores among Black participants.

Conclusions:

Although it is imperative to address all forms of discrimination, the importance of identifying institutional discrimination is especially relevant for Black and Latine populations who continue to be disproportionately impacted by systems of racism. The current study is the first to explore the impact of job discrimination on brain health, but low report of discrimination within this sample may complicate its associations to cognition. Nevertheless, we found that higher report of job discrimination is associated with worse immediate recall in Latine. This group-specific relationship highlights the valuable study design of examining psychosocial determinants of cognitive function in separate race/ethnicity groups, which should be replicated in future investigations. Other studies should also examine confounding variables that may moderate endorsement of discrimination and expand investigations of additional cognitive domains.