Intersectional Approaches to Minority Aging Research

Abstract

Purpose of Review Growing racial/ethnic diversity among America’s older adults necessitates additional research specifically focused on health and well-being among aging minoritized populations. Although Black and Latinx adults in the USA tend to face worse health outcomes as they age, substantial evidence points to unexpected health patterns (e.g., the race paradox in mental health, the Latino health paradox) that challenge our understanding of health and aging among these populations. In this review, we demonstrate the value of intersectionality theory for clarifying these health patterns and highlight the ways that intersectionality has been applied to minority aging research. To advance the field, we also make several recommendations for incorporating intersectional approaches in future scholarship on minority aging. Recent Findings Scholars have applied intersectional approaches to health and aging to unravel how social statuses and social conditions, such as race, ethnicity, gender, nativity, incarceration history, geographic region, and age, produce distinct shared experiences that shape health trajectories through multiple mechanisms. Summary We highlight common intersectional approaches used in minority aging research and underscore the value of this perspective for elucidating the complex, and often unexpected, health patterns of aging minoritized populations. We identify several key lessons and propose recommendations to advance scholarship on minority aging.

Empirically derived psychosocial‐behavioral phenotypes in Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino older adults enrolled in HABS‐HD: Associations with AD biomarkers and cognitive outcomes

“…There were no significant differences between the High Resource/Low Distress and Low Resource/Low Distress groups ( p = .91). There were no significant group differences on the memory composite (F = 1.68, p = .19, partial η 2 = 0.003). However, the groups significantly differed on subjective memory concerns (F = 143.14, p < .001, partial η 2 = 0.19).…”

“…There were no significant group differences on the memory composite (F = 1.68, p = .19, partial η 2 = 0.003). However, the groups significantly differed on subjective memory concerns (F = 143.14, p < .001, partial η 2 = 0.19). Pairwise comparisons revealed that the Low Resource/High Distress group had significantly greater memory concerns relative to the High Resource/Low Distress and Low Resource/Low Distress groups (ps < 0.001).…”

“…ANCOVAs adjusted for age, sex, education, vascular risk, and race/ethnicity revealed the groups differed significantly on plasma NfL (F = 7.47, p < .001, partial η 2 = 0.016). Pairwise comparisons revealed that the Low Resource/High Distress ( p = .003) and High Resource/Low Distress ( p < .001) groups had significantly higher levels of plasma NfL relative to the Low Resource/Low Distress group.…”

“…ANCOVAs adjusted for age, sex, education, vascular risk, and race/ethnicity revealed that the cluster groups significantly differed on the executive functions composite (F = 15.43, p < .001, partial η 2 = 0.025). Pairwise comparisons revealed that the Low Resource/High Distress group performed significantly worse than the High Resource/Low Distress and Low Resource/Low Distress groups (ps < 0.001).…”

Racial/ethnic differences in living arrangements, distant relations, and later‐life mental health

“…This implies that distant relations may play an increasingly important role in understanding gender, racial/ethnic, and age disparities in mental health inequalities. A life course-intersectional lens (Brown, 2018;Liu & Lin, 2023;Thomas Tobin et al, 2023) is also needed as individuals' identities are closely intertwined with each other in producing and perpetuating social inequalities (Collins, 2019). Future research might extend the current research lines by investigating causal inferences, underlying mechanisms, and life course-intersectional disparities in greater depth.…”