Love, health, and the 'hood: An examination of romantic relationship adjustment and perceived neighborhood quality as predictors of partnered Black Americans' long-term psychological health.

Existing disparities regarding Black Americans' psychological health warrant further investigation of socioecological factors that may be associated with negative and positive dimensions of psychological health in this population. Romantic relationship functioning and neighborhood context are two domains relevant to Black Americans' mental health. However, less is known about how they may serve as independent and interactive prospective predictors of Black Americans' psychological health and potentially in distinctive ways for Black men and women. Using data from 333 partnered Black Americans who participated in the Midlife in the United States study, we investigated relationship adjustment and neighborhood quality as independent and interactive predictors of negative and positive affect 10 years later and examined gender differences in these linkages. Higher neighborhood quality predicted lower levels of negative affect and higher levels of positive affect for both men and women a decade later. Additionally, for Black men, the longitudinal association between relationship adjustment and negative affect differed by neighborhood quality such that better relationship adjustment predicted higher subsequent negative affect only for men in lower quality neighborhoods. Findings demonstrate the connections among romantic relationship functioning, ecological resources, and gender in this population and highlight the importance of incorporating socioecological and intersectional perspectives for predicting Black Americans' long-term psychological health. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Differential Associations Between the Area Deprivation Index and Measures of Physical Health for Older Black Adults.

OBJECTIVES: This study explored the association between place-based characteristics (e.g., neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation) and physical health within older Black adults, a critical gap in the literature as identified by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. METHODS: The sample was from Wave 1 data of Baltimore Study of Black Aging: Patterns of Cognitive Aging (N = 450; Mage = 68.34). Variables included the area deprivation index (ADI), objective (e.g., average blood pressure) and subjective (e.g., self-rated health) measures of physical health. Multiple linear regression models were conducted controlling for key sociodemographic characteristics. RESULTS: Participants reporting better self-rated health and less likely to need help with activities of daily living were significantly more likely to be living in more disadvantaged neighborhoods based on national and state ADI, respectively, even after adjusting for covariates. A significant age and ADI interaction revealed better self-rated health was associated with a more disadvantaged neighborhood particularly for individuals ≤66 years. There was no significant association between ADI and objective physical health measures. DISCUSSION: The findings suggest that national- and state-level place-based characteristics should be considered along with individual-level factors, which can enrich the scientific understanding of how neighborhood characteristics relate to varying health indicators among older Black adults.

Exploring the Association Between Affect and Leisure Activity Engagement in Black Adults.

OBJECTIVES: This study examined engagement levels across various domains of leisure activities in community-dwelling Black adults (age range = 50-80 years) and variability in daily leisure activity engagement and positive affect (PA; positive emotions or mood) and negative affect (NA; negative emotions or mood). Additionally, we explored whether PA and NA were associated with leisure activity engagement and whether these associations varied by sociodemographics. METHODS: Fifty adults (78% women; mean education = 11.62 years, standard deviation = 2.4) reported affect and leisure activity engagement over 8 occasions (2-3 weeks). RESULTS: Participants averaged 3 leisure activities/day with more engagement in watching television (news), walking, reading, and visiting others. Multilevel models identified significant within-person variation across domains of leisure activity engagement. A significant main effect was observed between daily NA and reduced social activity engagement. A significant interaction between NA and education was further illustrated on those occasions when NA was higher than usual, social and total leisure activity engagement tended to be lower, particularly for adults with ≤10 years of education. A significant interaction between NA and education was observed for entertainment activities. However, results indicated adults with ≥14 years of education, and a mean NA above the sample average, tended to engage in more entertainment activities. Finally, a significant interaction between PA and age was observed indicating adults aged ≥73 had a greater social engagement, particularly when daily PA was heightened. DISCUSSION: Results demonstrate within-person changes in the types of leisure engagement among Black adults. Potential factors related to these changes may result from interconnections between affect and demographic factors (age and education).

Correlates of Life Satisfaction Among Middle-Aged and Older Black Adults.

BACKGROUND: This study examines satisfaction across life domains (condition of the home, city of residence, daily life/leisure, family life, current financial situation, total household income, health, and life as a whole) among Black adults. The study also explores the association between satisfaction in each life domain and sociodemographic, personality, and mental/physical health measures. METHODS: A community-dwelling sample of Black adults (n = 93, age range = 55-80) residing in the Tampa, FL area, completed a life satisfaction scale and measures of sociodemographic factors, personality, and mental/physical health between October 2014 and June 2016. RESULTS: Better life satisfaction was observed in the oldest-old (80+) compared with the middle-aged (55-64; p < .05). Less education, less financial strain, lower depressive symptoms, and better self-rated physical health were associated with higher satisfaction although the pattern of results varied by domain. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the evaluation of life satisfaction domains may be a useful approach for identifying specific individual needs, which may inform age-friendly community initiatives.

The association between educational parameters and a cognitive screening measure in older blacks.

ABSTRACTBackground:To expand on prior literature by examining how various education parameters (performance-based reading literacy, years of education, and self-rated quality of education) relate to a cognitive screening measure's total and subscale scores of specific cognitive abilities. METHODS: Black adults (age range: 55-86) were administered self-rated items years of education and quality of education, and a measure of performance-based reading literacy. The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) was used to screen for overall cognitive functioning as well as performance on specific cognitive abilities. RESULTS: Sixty-nine percent of the sample had reading grade levels that were less than their reported years of education. Lower years of education and worse reading literacy are associated with poorer MMSE performance, particularly on the attention and calculation subscales. CONCLUSIONS: Years of education, a commonly used measure for education, may not be reflective of Black adults' educational experiences/qualities. Thus, it is important to account for the unique educational experiences of adults that could influence their MMSE performance. Incorporating quality and quantity of education will provide a more comprehensive understanding of the individual's performance on cognitive measures, specifically as it relates to sociocultural differences.

Nationwide Inpatient Prevalence, Predictors, and Outcomes of Alzheimer's Disease among Older Adults in the United States, 2002-2012.

In the inpatient setting, prevalence, predictors, and outcomes [mortality risk (MR), length of stay (LOS), and total charges (TC)] of Alzheimer's disease (AD) are largely unknown. We used data on older adults (60+ y) from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) 2002-2012. AD prevalence was ∼3.12% in 2012 (total weighted discharges with AD ± standard error: 474, 410 ± 6,276). Co-morbidities prevailing more in AD inpatient admissions included depression (OR = 1.67, 95% CI: 1.63-1.71, p <  0.001), fluid/electrolyte disorders (OR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.22-1.27, p <  0.001), weight loss (OR = 1.26, 95% CI: 1.22-1.30, p <  0.001), and psychosis (OR = 2.59, 95% CI: 2.47-2.71, p <  0.001), with mean total co-morbidities increasing over time. AD was linked to higher MR and longer LOS, but lower TC. TC rose in AD, while MR and LOS dropped markedly over time. In AD, co-morbidities predicting simultaneously higher MR, TC, and LOS (2012) included congestive heart failure, chronic pulmonary disease, coagulopathy, fluid/electrolyte disorders, metastatic cancer, paralysis, pulmonary circulatory disorders, and weight loss. In sum, co-morbidities and TC increased over time in AD, while MR and LOS dropped. Few co-morbidities predicted occurrence of AD or adverse outcomes in AD.

Race differences in intellectual control beliefs and cognitive functioning.

UNLABELLED: BACKGROUND/STUDY CONTEXT: The current study examined the relationship between intellectual control and cognition and related the results to everyday problem solving in a mixed ethnicity sample of 35% African American and 65% Caucasian elders. METHODS: Participants completed the Personality in Intellectual Aging Contexts Inventory (PIC; Lachman et al., 1982 , Journal of Research in Personality, 16, 485-501), Everyday Cognition Battery (ECB; Allaire & Marsiske, 1999 , Psychology & Aging, 14, 627-644; 2002 , Psychology & Aging, 17, 101-115), and a battery of basic cognitive ability tests assessing memory, inductive reasoning, and verbal meaning. RESULTS: Results indicated that African Americans had significantly lower intellectual control beliefs relative to Caucasian older adults. Regression models suggested that relationship between control beliefs and cognition was moderated by education and race. Decomposing the interactions with simple slope analysis revealed that across cognitive abilities, better cognitive performance was related to higher control beliefs in African Americans with at least 13 years of education. A similar relationship was also found in Caucasian elders with lower education. CONCLUSION: African American elders' reaching a higher level of education may provide a basis for which individual differences in intellectual control beliefs are activated and thereby more strongly associated with cognitive performance.

Factor structure of cognitive ability measures in older African Americans.

This study examined the fluid-crystallized distinction of cognitive abilities in African Americans. We analyzed the factorial invariance of a battery of cognitive ability measures in a sample of 197 community-dwelling African American elders. Specifically, factorial invariance was tested in groups of African American elders differing in age (50-61 years, 62-79 years) and education (low, high). Using a partial invariance approach, if non-invariance was found between two groups, we explored the specific model parameters that contributed to the overall lack of invariance. The results indicated that the factor structure was confirmed in the sample as a whole. Evidence of strict invariance was found between age groups. However, a lack of invariance of specific factor loadings, intercepts, and uniqueness terms was found between education groups. The importance of highlighting idiosyncrasies in cognitive performance among African Americans is shown using a within group variation approach.

Exploring the within-person coupling of reading vision and cognition in the elderly.

This study examined the within-person relationship between reading vision and cognitive functioning. Analysis was conducted on 36 community-dwelling elderly (age range = 60-87) who completed a reading vision task and three cognitive tests (i.e., Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Task (AVLT), Letter Series, and Number Comparison) twice a day over 60 consecutive days. Significant within-person variability was found for the reading vision measure. Additionally, a main effect was found for reading vision and performance on the AVLT and Number Comparison task; such that on occasions when reading vision was poor, cognitive performance suffered.