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Timing of school desegregation experience and late‐life cognition in the Study of Healthy Aging in African Americans (STAR) cohort
Author(s) -
Peterson Rachel,
George Kristen M.,
Barnes Lisa L.,
Gilsanz Paola,
Mayeda Elizabeth Rose,
Glymour M Maria,
Mungas Dan M,
Whitmer Rachel A.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1002/alz.045354
Subject(s) - desegregation , cognition , cohort , psychology , gerontology , demography , medicine , geography , sociology , psychiatry , archaeology
Background Prior studies suggest segregated school experiences are associated with poorer late‐life cognition among African Americans. However, less is known about how the timing of school desegregation in the individual’s lifecourse or historically is associated with cognition for younger cohorts. Method The Study of Healthy Aging in African Americans (STAR) is a cohort of community‐dwelling Kaiser Permanente members residing in the San Francisco Bay area and Sacramento valley. The study has enrolled 722 African Americans (half ages 50‐64, half 65+) and aims to understand lifecourse processes that contribute to cognitive aging disparities. Experiences of segregation were self‐reported and modeled three ways: 1) having attended only segregated schools vs. only integrated; 2) by life stage when first transitioned to a desegregated school (i.e. 1 st ‐6 th , 7 th ‐9 th or 10 th ‐12 th grades); and 3) the historical timing of school desegregation relative to the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision mandating school integration (many districts were reluctant to integrate in a timely manner). Executive function, semantic memory and verbal memory measured with the Spanish and English Neuropsychological Assessment Scales (SENAS) were z‐standardized and averaged for overall cognition. Linear regression was used for analysis; models controlled for age, gender, and education. Result Participant mean age was 68 (8.7) and 69% were female. Compared with participants who only attended integrated schools (ref.; n=438), those who only attended segregated schools (n=145) had significantly lower overall cognition, executive function and semantic memory (see table). Those who transitioned from segregated to integrated schools between 7 th and 9 th grade (n=51) had worse executive function and semantic memory than those who only attended integrated schools; we did not observe significant associations for those who transitioned to integrated schools in 1 st ‐6 th grades (n=44), or 10 th ‐12 th grades (n=43). We observed no differences in cognition by historical timing of desegregation. Conclusion Older African Americans who attended only segregated schools or experienced desegregation in 7 th ‐9 th grades had worse later‐life cognitive test scores than those who attended racially integrated schools. Our findings suggest that only attending segregated schools and the timing of school desegregation in the lifecourse may have implications for understanding cognitive aging among African Americans.