scholarly journals Midlife Marital Dissolution and the Onset of Cognitive Impairment

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan L Brown ◽  
I-Fen Lin ◽  
Alyssa Vielee ◽  
Kagan A Mellencamp
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Stressful Life Event ◽  
Marital Dissolution ◽  
Divorce Rate ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Psychological Resources ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Midlife Adults

Abstract Background and Objectives Marital dissolution has become more common in midlife with the doubling of the divorce rate among middle-aged adults. Guided by the stress model that stipulates losing economic, social, and psychological resources lowers well-being, we posited that midlife adults who experienced divorce or widowhood were at greater risk of cognitive impairment than the continuously married. Subsequent repartnering was expected to negate the increased risk. Research Design and Methods We used data from the 1998-2016 Health and Retirement Study to estimate discrete-time event history models using logistic regression to predict cognitive impairment onset for men and women. Results Roughly 27% of men who experienced spousal death in midlife went on to experience mild cognitive impairment by age 65. For women, experiencing divorce or widowhood was associated with higher odds of cognitive impairment onset although these differentials were accounted for by economic, social, and psychological resources. Men and women who repartnered after marital dissolution did not appreciably differ from their continuously married counterparts in terms of their likelihoods of cognitive impairment onset. Discussion and Implications A stressful life event, midlife marital dissolution can be detrimental to cognitive well-being, placing individuals at increased risk of developing dementia in later life. The growing diversity of partnership experiences during the second half of life points to the continued importance of examining how union dissolution and formation shape health and well-being.

scholarly journals Depressive Symptoms Following Later-life Marital Dissolution and Subsequent Repartnering

2019 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
I-Fen Lin ◽  
Susan L. Brown ◽  
Matthew R. Wright ◽  
Anna M. Hammersmith
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Marital Dissolution ◽  
Divorce Rate ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
Lower Elevation ◽  
Initial Reduction ◽  
Retirement Study

The doubling of the divorce rate among individuals over age 50 during the past 20 years underscores the urgency of studying the consequences of gray divorce and subsequent repartnering for adult well-being. We filled this gap by using the 1998-to-2014 Health and Retirement Study to evaluate how the levels of depressive symptoms changed following gray divorce versus widowhood. Individuals who divorced or became widowed already had experienced higher levels of depressive symptoms before dissolution relative to those who remained married. Compared with those who became widowed, those who transitioned to divorce experienced a lower elevation and a shorter time to recovery in depressive symptoms. When repartnering, both groups experienced similar magnitudes of initial reduction and subsequent rates of increase. Both the negative consequences of marital dissolution and the beneficial effects of repartnership for mental health persisted for several years, although ultimately they reverted to their predissolution levels of depressive symptoms.

scholarly journals Association of self-perceived income sufficiency with cognitive impairment among older adults: a population-based study in India

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Muhammad ◽  
Shobhit Srivastava ◽  
T. V. Sekher
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Activities Of Daily Living ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Daily Living ◽  
Basic Needs ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Asset Ownership ◽  
Increased Risk

Abstract Background Greater cognitive performance has been shown to be associated with better mental and physical health and lower mortality. The present study contributes to the existing literature on the linkages of self-perceived income sufficiency and cognitive impairment. Study also provides additional insights on other socioeconomic and health-related variables that are associated with cognitive impairment in older ages. Methods Data for this study is derived from the 'Building Knowledge Base on Population Ageing in India'. The final sample size for the analysis after removing missing cases was 9176 older adults. Descriptive along with bivariate analyses were presented to show the plausible associations of cognitive impairment with potential risk factors using the chi-square test. Also, binary logistic regression analysis was performed to provide the relationship between cognitive impairment and risk factors. The software used was STATA 14. Results About 43% of older adults reported that they had no source of income and 7.2% had income but not sufficient to fulfil their basic needs. Older adults with income but partially sufficient to fulfil their basic needs had 39% significantly higher likelihood to suffer from cognitive impairment than older adults who had sufficient income [OR: 1.39; OR: 1.21–1.59]. Likelihood of cognitive impairment was low among older adults with asset ownership than older adults with no asset ownership [OR: 0.83; CI: 0.72–0.95]. Again, older adults who work by compulsion (73.3%) or felt mental or physical stress due to work (57.6%) had highest percentage of cognitive impairment. Moreover, older adults with poor self-rated health, low instrumental activities of daily living, low activities of daily living, low subjective well-being and low psychological health were at increased risk for cognitive impairment. Conclusion The study highlights the pressing need for care and support and especially financial incentives in the old age to preserve cognitive health. Further, while planning geriatric health care for older adults in India, priority must be given to financially backward, with no asset ownership, with poor health status, older-older, widowed, and illiterate older individuals, as they are more vulnerable to cognitive impairment.

Abstract WP482: Early Life Exposure to the Stroke Belt and Later Life Incident Cognitive Impairment: The Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) Study

Stroke ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginia J Howard ◽  
George Howard ◽  
Jennifer J Manly ◽  
M M Glymour ◽  
Laura B Zahodne ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Racial Differences ◽  
Early Adulthood ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Logistic Regression Models ◽  
Early Life Exposure ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Regards Study ◽  
Adjusted Logistic Regression ◽  
Stroke Belt

Introduction: Incidence of cognitive impairment is higher for residents of the Stroke Belt (SB) compared to those living outside it, but the importance of timing of SB residence is unclear. Methods: Participants were aged 45+ yrs, and enrolled in 2003-2007 in REGARDS. Cognition was assessed annually, by telephone, using the Six-Item Screener (SIS) in 11,488 black or white stroke-free participants currently living in the SB, and 8,949 currently living outside of the SB. Incident cognitive impairment was defined as SIS score of < 4 at last assessment among participants with initial SIS >4. Exposures were defined as SB residence all years, some years, or no years of childhood (ages 0-18) and early adulthood (ages 19-30). Demographic adjusted logistic regression models were stratified by SB residence at enrollment, and were used to estimate the demographic-adjusted odds of incident cognitive impairment. Results: Among those currently residing in the SB, childhood residence outside the SB for some (OR = 0.82; 95% CI: 0.68 - 0.99) or all (OR = 0.76; 95% CI: 0.65 - 0.90) of the time predicted lower odds of incident cognitive impairment. Similarly, early adulthood residence outside the SB for some (OR = 0.86; 95% CI: 0.74 - 0.98) or all (OR = 0.70; 95% CI: 0.58 - 0.84) of the time predicted lower incident cognitive impairment. Conversely, for those currently living outside the SB, the risk of incident cognitive impairment was higher for those who had spent their entire early adulthood in the SB (OR = 1.51; 95% CI: 1.01 - 2.57), with non-significant increased risk for childhood exposure or some early adulthood exposure to the SB (table). Conclusions: These findings suggest that early residence in the SB during childhood or early adulthood increases the risk of cognitive impairment regardless of place of residence in later adulthood. Further research is needed to determine the characteristics of early SB life that are linked to later adult cognitive impairment.

Dementia associated with alcohol and other drug use

2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (s1) ◽  
pp. S109-S127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary K. Hulse ◽  
Nicola T. Lautenschlager ◽  
Robert J. Tait ◽  
Osvaldo P. Almeida
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Cognitive Function ◽  
Drug Use ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Diagnostic Category ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Causal Pathway ◽  
Chronic Use

The acute use of alcohol and several other licit and illicit drugs can affect mental state and cognitive function. The chronic use of certain drugs may also increase the risk of cognitive impairment and perhaps dementia in later life. This paper focuses on the long-term cognitive consequences of using alcohol, benzodiazepines, tobacco and cannabis. Currently available evidence indicates that mild to moderate alcohol consumption is not associated with increased risk of cognitive decline and may in fact have a protective effect against dementia, although heavy, long-term consumption is likely to have a negative impact on cognitive function. The degree that alcohol-related cognitive impairment must reach to be classified as dementia is currently obscure. Longer-term smoking is associated with increased risk of cognitive impairment and possibly dementia. The chronic use of benzodiazepines has been associated with increased risk of cognitive impairment but information relating to dementia remains inconclusive. The chronic use of cannabis may impair intellectual abilities but data on this topic remain sparse and difficult to interpret. In conclusion, there is evidence that some drugs contribute to the causal pathway that leads to the development of cognitive impairment but currently available data do not support the introduction of a separate diagnostic category of drug-induced dementia (such as alcohol-related dementia). Health promotion programs designed to decrease tobacco smoking and “harmful” alcohol use (and possibly other drug use) may decrease the burden of cognitive impairment and perhaps dementia in later life.

scholarly journals Outcomes of undernutrition in patients in the community with cancer or cardiovascular disease

1999 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 655-661 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jackie Edington ◽  
Paul D. Winter ◽  
Steve J. Coles ◽  
Catharine R. Gale ◽  
Christopher N. Martyn
Keyword(s):  
Cardiovascular Disease ◽  
Nutritional Status ◽  
General Practice Research Database ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Practice Research ◽  
Research Database ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Risk Of Death ◽  
Increased Risk

Public health concern has tended to focus on the dangers of obesity, but there is evidence that undernutrition may also pose a risk to physical and mental well-being, particularly in those who are already ill. Using the General Practice Research Database (see office for Population Censuses and Surveys, 1995), we followed up 10 128 men and women aged 18 years and over who had been diagnosed with cancer or cardiovascular disease to examine whether nutritional status, as indicated by BMI, affected rates of use of health care resources and mortality. In both diagnostic groups, patients with a BMI below 20 kg/m 2 had higher rates of consultation with GP, higher rates of prescription and higher death rates during the follow-up period compared with those with a BMI of 20 – < 25 kg/m 2. In men and women with cardiovascular disease, poor nutritional status was associated with a sharply increased risk of hospital admission. Patients whose BMI was 30 – <40 kg/m 2 also tended to have increased rates of GP consultation and prescription, and if they were under the age of 65 years, they had an increased risk of death. The results of the present study suggest that in men and women with cancer or cardiovascular disease, even minor degrees of undernutrition are associated with a marked increase in morbidity and mortality.

scholarly journals Retirement Financial Insecurity for Men and Women in Canada: The Impact of Life Course Work and Income Instability

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 463-463
Author(s):  
Miles Taylor ◽  
Dawn Carr ◽  
Amelie Quesnel-Vallee
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Financial Security ◽  
Retirement Benefits ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Course Work ◽  
Personal Savings ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Financial security is critical to overall well-being in retirement. Life course disruptions in work due to unemployment or disability may have lasting impacts on financial security in later life, and these effects may or may not be ameliorated by old age security programs and retirement benefits. Women are known to be particularly vulnerable for financial hardship in later life, making their life course experiences especially important in understanding financial well-being in retirement. We examine the Canadian Longitudinal and International Study of Adults (LISA) to assess later life financial insecurity in retirement, including 20 years of data on labor force experiences across adulthood drawn from linked tax records (N=2,353; N=1,079 men and N=1,274 women). The Canadian context is a useful complement to studies in the US due to its diverse and relatively generous public support programs, in addition to personal savings options for retirement. We find that among men, financial insecurity is tied to years reporting unemployment, where for women this outcome is more strongly linked to reports of disability and income assistance across adulthood. Although public and private retirement benefits do not offset these associations for either gender, receipt of income supplements reduce subjective financial insecurity among women. Among men, personal savings have the most robust effect in reducing financial insecurity. Our results suggest that in Canada, with its relatively generous provision of retirement support, life course work and health instability have lasting but differential effects for men and women in retirement.

scholarly journals EXPOSURE AND EMOTIONAL REACTIVITY TO DAILY STRESS IN SAME-SEX AND DIFFERENT-SEX MARRIAGES

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S797-S797
Author(s):  
Michael Garcia ◽  
Rachel Donnelly ◽  
Debra Umberson
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Reactivity ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Heterosexual Couples ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Daily Stressors ◽  
Daily Stress ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Same Sex Couples ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Gendered Patterns

Abstract Recent work exploring links between stress processes and well-being within marriage suggest that women may be at an increased risk for exposure and emotional reactivity to daily stress. However, studies have focused primarily on heterosexual couples, raising questions concerning whether and how these gendered patterns might unfold differently for men and women in same-sex marriages. In the present study, we analyze 10 days of dyadic diary data from 756 midlife men and women in 378 gay, lesbian, and heterosexual marriages to consider how exposure and emotional reactivity to daily stress may differ across union types. We find that women are exposed to more daily stressors than men and that this exposure is especially detrimental to the well-being of women in different-sex marriages. These findings highlight the need to include same-sex couples when exploring gendered linkages between daily stress processes and well-being within marriage.

scholarly journals Intensive Mothers, Cautionary Tale Fathers: Adult Children’s Perceptions of Parental Influence on Health

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 312-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Kissling ◽  
Corinne Reczek
Keyword(s):  
Adult Children ◽  
Parental Influence ◽  
Adult Child ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Negative Influence ◽  
Family Systems Theory ◽  
Future Health ◽  
Midlife Adults ◽  
Cautionary Tales

Parents strongly influence children’s health, yet how parents continue to shape the health of midlife adult children remains unknown. Moreover, while most adults are married by midlife, research has failed to identify the effects of parent-in-law relationships on midlife adult well-being. Using interviews with 90 individuals in 45 marriages, we investigate how midlife adults perceive the influence of parents and parents-in-law on adult child health. Findings reveal that particularly mothers and mothers-in-law positively influence child’s health via support during, or in anticipation of, illness and injury. The health experiences of parents and in-laws, particularly fathers/in-law, become cautionary tales preparing adult children for future health issues. Yet parents/in-law also have negative influence on adult children during midlife due to parents’ compounding health needs. We use family systems theory to show how parents/in-laws are intertwined in ways that influence health during children’s midlife that has ramifications into later life.

scholarly journals Psychological well-being and incident frailty in men and women: the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

2013 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 697-706 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. R. Gale ◽  
C. Cooper ◽  
I. J. Deary ◽  
A. Aihie Sayer
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Multinomial Logistic Regression ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Relative Risk Ratio ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Physical Frailty ◽  
Psychological Well Being ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
English Longitudinal Study

BackgroundObservations that older people who enjoy life more tend to live longer suggest that psychological well-being may be a potential resource for healthier ageing. We investigated whether psychological well-being was associated with incidence of physical frailty.MethodWe used multinomial logistic regression to examine the prospective relationship between psychological well-being, assessed using the CASP-19, a questionnaire that assesses perceptions of control, autonomy, self-realization and pleasure, and incidence of physical frailty or pre-frailty, defined according to the Fried criteria (unintentional weight loss, weakness, self-reported exhaustion, slow walking speed and low physical activity), in 2557 men and women aged 60 to ⩾90 years from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA).ResultsMen and women with higher levels of psychological well-being were less likely to become frail over the 4-year follow-up period. For a standard deviation higher score in psychological well-being at baseline, the relative risk ratio (RR) for incident frailty, adjusted for age, sex and baseline frailty status, was 0.46 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.40–0.54]. There was a significant association between psychological well-being and risk of pre-frailty (RR 0.69, 95% CI 0.63–0.77). Examination of scores for hedonic (pleasure) and eudaimonic (control, autonomy and self-realization) well-being showed that higher scores on both were associated with decreased risk. Associations were partially attenuated by further adjustment for other potential confounding factors but persisted. Incidence of pre-frailty or frailty was associated with a decline in well-being, suggesting that the relationship is bidirectional.ConclusionsMaintaining a stronger sense of psychological well-being in later life may protect against the development of physical frailty. Future research needs to establish the mechanisms underlying these findings.

The gendered experience of social resources in the transition to late-life widowhood

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Linda Isherwood
Keyword(s):  
Social Engagement ◽  
Late Life ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Social Resources ◽  
Friendship Networks ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Framework Approach ◽  
Qualitative Exploration ◽  
Depth Interviews

Abstract Social resources – close relationships, support exchange and social engagement – can play an important role in successful adjustment to widowhood in later life. However, it is not clear whether access to, and the utilisation of, social resources are different for men and women during late-life widowhood. This study provides a qualitative exploration of the experience of social resources in the lives of older widowed men and women across the transition to widowhood (from pre-widowhood to later widowhood). Using a life course theory lens, in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 men and women who had been widowed in later life. The interview data were analysed using the framework approach. Four phases in the transition to widowhood were identified: ‘Illness and caring’, ‘Relocation and separation’, ‘Early bereavement’ and ‘Life goes on’. Widowhood brings great change to the accessibility and utilisation of social resources, and each of these transitional phases was associated with differential usage of these resources. Gender differences were observed in the availability of social resources across the transition to widowhood, with widowed men typically found to have smaller friendship networks, receive less support and be at increased risk of social isolation. Particular attention is required to ensure that all older widowed men and women have access to sufficient social support and contact following bereavement.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document