Patterns of Late Life Cognitive Decline: Variation across Birth Cohorts and Socioeconomic Status

• In Event: 4211 - The Roots of Inequality: Early and Mid-Life Determinants of Health and Well-being in Later Life

Abstract

This study examines life course socioeconomic disparities in cognitive outcomes within and across birth cohorts. Using growth curve analysis of longitudinal data that spans 14 years, findings indicate significant inter-cohort heterogeneity in cognitive outcomes: while there were no cohort differences in mean cognitive function, significant cohort differences were found in age trajectories of cognitive decline, with more recent cohorts showing accelerated rates of cognitive decline. I also found significant intra-cohort socioeconomic disparities in cognitive outcomes. Both early life and adult socioeconomic disadvantage were negatively associated with cognitive function, especially parent and respondent education. Finally, there was significant inter-cohort variation in intra-cohort heterogeneity, with non-linear cohort differences in socioeconomic gaps in cognitive outcomes. These findings have implications for the macro-level social contributors to cognitive outcomes, and call for further research to understand declining cognitive outcomes among more recent cohorts.

Author

• Kristen M. Schorpp, Roanoke College