| 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 #101
The Role of Perceived Control in racial disparities in cognition
Lauren Taylor, Univeristy of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States
Laura Zahodne, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States
Emily Morris, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States
Ji Hyun Lee, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States
Category: Aging
Keyword 1: aging (normal)
Keyword 2: cross-cultural issues
Keyword 3: social processes
Objective:
Racial disparities in physical and cognitive health between Black and White Americans likely reflect a variety of structural and interpersonal obstacles that disproportionately affect Black Americans in the United States. Socioeconomic status (SES) accounts for a large portion of cognitive disparities, but emerging evidence points to independent effects of psychosocial factors such as discrimination. Perceived control (PC) is defined as one’s perception that they have the ability, resources, and opportunities to achieve their goals. This construct can be split into internal control, (perception of one's own ability), and external control, (perception of external obstacles hindering the individual). Though earlier researchers conceptualized perceived control as a single continuum, more recent research demonstrates that internal and external control can vary independently and may each demonstrate unique racial patterns and associations with cognition. The aims were to: 1) quantify racial differences in perceived control and cognition; 2) evaluate perceived control as a mediator of racial disparities in cognition and 3) evaluate racial differences in associations between perceived control and cognition.
Participants and Methods:
Cross-sectional data were obtained from 465 non-Hispanic Black and White community-dwelling older adults from the Michigan Cognitive Aging Project. Perceived control was operationalized as two separate subscales: internal control (i.e., perceived mastery) and external control (i.e., perceived constraints). Global cognition was defined as a composite of five factor scores (i.e., episodic memory, executive functioning, processing speed, language, visuospatial functioning) derived from a comprehensive neuropsychological battery. Racial differences were analyzed with unadjusted t-tests and multivariable regressions. Associations between perceived control and cognition were obtained from linear regressions, controlling for SES (total income and education), age, and gender. Racial differences in perceived control-cognition associations were examined through interaction terms and race-stratified models.
Results:
Black participants reported more external control (i.e., constraints) than White participants, but there was no racial difference in internal control. When considered together, more external control was associated with worse cognition, but internal control was not associated with cognition. Perceived control explained 3.3% of the Black-White disparity in global cognition. In race-stratified models, more internal control was associated with better cognition only among Black participants. The negative relationship between external control and cognition was similar between racial groups.
Conclusions:
External locus of control, but not internal locus of control, contributes to racial disparities in global cognitive performance above and beyond racial disparities in SES. External control in this sample likely reflectss racially-patterned environmental constraints that may be more universally relevant to cognitive aging than internal control, which reflects self-beliefs that may be less racially patterned. Black older adults may be more vulnerable to negative cognitive impacts of lower internal control than White older adults due to compounding effects of cumulative disadvantages affecting Black Americans. Future research should further this model of perceived control and racial disparities in cognition by incorporating information about the social determinants of control beliefs, psychological distress, and coping resources.
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