Abstract
Understanding Life Course Geographic Contexts and Midlife Cognitive Function in a National Cohort
Emma Zang, PhD, Associate Professor of Sociology and Biostatistics and Global Affairs, Yale University
Geographic differences in cognitive outcomes, such as dementia incidence and cognitive decline, are not fully understood. Advancing the science requires deeper consideration of how residential environments, defined by state- and county-level characteristics, across the life course influence later-life cognition. This study will use the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), which includes individuals born between 1974 and 1983, to examine how individuals' residential histories across developmental stages relate to cognitive functioning in midlife. The data include rich cognitive assessments and detailed geographic identifiers, allowing linkage to time- and place-specific contextual measures. The study will contribute to ADRD prevention science by: 1) extending the concept of “residential context trajectories” to a new cohort entering late adulthood, 2) identifying social and demographic predictors of different residential trajectories, 3) evaluating how life course geographic exposures are associated with midlife cognitive performance, 4) investigating variation in these associations across population subgroups defined by sex and other background characteristics.
LCC Themes: Later life population trends in context and Life course dynamics as disparity mechanisms