The Effect of Race and Health-Related Factors on Naming and Memory

Whitfield, Keith E.; Fillenbaum, Gerda G.; Pieper, Carl F.; Albert, Marilyn; Berkman, Lisa F.; Blazer, Dan G.; Rowe, John W.; Seeman, Teresa E.

doi:10.1177/089826430001200104

Cited by 52 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…This accelerated cognitive aging hypothesis needs to be tested empirically, but may account for differences in mean levels of cognitive functioning as more cross-cultural analyses are performed. Cross-cultural differences found in test performance may reflect differences in cultural appropriateness of the material rather than differences in ability (Whitfield et al, 2000). When measures are culturally sensitive, models of cognitive aging for European-Americans may need to be modified if they are to apply to other groups (Whitfield et al, 1997(Whitfield et al, , 2000Whitfield & Willis, 1998).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Thus, if ethnic differences exist, they are not entirely due to lack of competence but due to differences in practices, attitudes, beliefs, and historical legacies that are aspects of individual ethnic=cultural groups that subsequently impact performance. Other variables such as health status and social factors (Whitfield et al, 2000;Whitfield & Willis, 1998) have been shown to impact performance on measures of cognitive functioning among African Americans.…”

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confidence: 98%

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The Influence of Social Support and Health on Everyday Problem Solving in Adult African Americans

Whitfield

Wiggins

2003

Experimental Aging Research

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The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between social support, health status, and everyday problem solving in African Americans. The sample included subjects recruited from Baltimore, Maryland. The sample consisted of 249 community-dwelling African American adults, 32% of whom were male, with a sample mean age of 67.8 years (SD = 8.47 years). Variables included: Everyday Problem Solving Test (EPT), social support given and received, physical limitations, counts of chronic illness, smoking, and demographic information. Using stepwise regression, age, education, physical limitations, and social support given were found to be significant predictors of performance on the EPT. Further analysis found support for a partial mediating effect of physical limitations on the relationship between social support and everyday problem solving. The results indicate that there may be differences in the cognitive abilities of those actively involved in social activities.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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confidence: 98%

The Influence of Social Support and Health on Everyday Problem Solving in Adult African Americans

Whitfield

Wiggins

2003

Experimental Aging Research

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“…For some exposures, there has been much more research on physical health outcomes, such as cardiovascular conditions. Although this is not a focus of this review, we must acknowledge prior work finding a strong link between cognitive health and physical health (Whitfield et al 2000), especially vascular functioning. (Snowdon et al 1997;Cerhan et al 1998;Kilander et al 1998;de la Torre 2000;Gregg et al 2000;Hachinski and Munoz 2000;Hébert et al 2000;Fontbonne et al 2001) Recent work adopting a "brain at risk" approach highlights the value of considering neuropathological processes in the context of physical health, in particular cardiovascular health (Hachinski 2007), consistent with a broader lifecourse perspective on neurodegenerative diseases (Whalley et al 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Lifecourse Social Conditions and Racial and Ethnic Patterns of Cognitive Aging

2008

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A lifecourse perspective is key for understanding and interpreting racial and ethnic patterns in neuropsychological test performance. In this article, we discuss contextual factors that shape the environmental conditions encountered by racial and ethnic minorities in the United States, in particular African-Americans. These conditions include geographic segregation at the level of regions, metropolitan areas, and neighborhoods; intra- and inter-national migration patterns; socioeconomic position, including financial resources, and occupational and educational opportunities; discrimination; and group resources. Each of these exposures sets in course a cascade of individual mediators that ultimately manifest in neuropsychological outcomes. The physiological and behavioral consequences of these pathways likely accumulate across the lifecourse. We focus on cognitive aging, although the processes discussed here begin in infancy and likely influence cognitive outcomes throughout life from childhood into old age. A lifecourse framework can help inform clinical encounters, neuropsychological research, and surveillance regarding the population prevalence of cognitive impairments.

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“…While it is likely that numerous mediating factors (e.g., education, health conditions, and socioeconomic status, etc.) account for the lower performance of African Americans on tests of cognitive ability and functioning, several researchers have noted that such demographic and health factors are infrequently considered in many existing published studies exploring racial group differences in cognition (Whitfield, Fillenbaum, Pieper, Albert, Berkman, Blazer, Rowe, & Seeman, 2000;IzquierdoRorrera & Waldstein, 2002;Zsembik & Peek, 2001). …”

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Characterizing and Explaining Differences in Cognitive Test Performance Between African American and European American Older Adults

Morgan

Marsiske

Whitfield

2007

Experimental Aging Research

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). While it is likely that numerous mediating factors (e.g., education, health conditions, and socioeconomic status, etc.) account for the lower performance of African Americans on tests of cognitive ability and functioning, several researchers have noted that such demographic and health factors are infrequently considered in many existing published studies exploring racial group differences in cognition (Whitfield, Fillenbaum, Pieper, Albert, Berkman, Blazer, Rowe, & Seeman, 2000; IzquierdoRorrera & Waldstein, 2002;Zsembik & Peek, 2001). The Role of Education in Cognitive PerformanceOne of the most common general findings in neuropsychological research and gerontological research on cognitive aging has been the major role of education in explaining individual differences in verbal and non-verbal cognition (Schaie, 1996). Studies have indicated that African American adults, on average, are likely to have attained less formal education than European American adults (e.g., Harper & Alexander, 1990), and these differences exist over and above cohort differences in education attainment (Adams-Price, 1993). However, years of education alone has been an inadequate explanation for group differences in cognitive performance; controlling for group differences in educational attainment has generally not explained the lower performance of African American elders on cognitive and neuropsychological measures (Manly et al., 1998;. Several have argued that the "years of education" does not have similar meaning across older racial groups in the United States. This non-equivalence is at least in part due to the historical effects of school segregation in the US prior to 1954, and associated factors like lower education expenditures, shorter school years, and higher student/teacher ratios that were experienced by African American students (Loewenstein, Arguelles, Arguelles, & Linn-Fuentes, 1994;Whitfield & Wiggins, 2003;. Investigators have suggested future research should explore the role of education, both quantitatively and qualitatively, in the epidemiology of cognitive impairment associated with Alzheimer's disease (e.g., Folstein, Anthony, & Parhad, 1985;Whitfield, 2002;Whitfield & Wiggins, 2003). Furthermore, Whitfield (1996, 2002 suggested that studies should examine the practical aspects of cognitive functioning, including performance on measures of everyday problem solving, in the assessment of cognitive status. In general, everyday problem solving measures, by assessing cognition within contextually relevant domains (i.e., medication use, transportation, and other instrumental activities of daily living), have been thought to have more ecological value in determining older adults' daily functioning, than traditional cognitive measures (Allaire & Marsiske, 1999; Willis, 1991). The Role of Education Quality in Understanding Group DifferencesThere have been several studies examining the role of education quality, as approximated by reading achievement, in accounting for racial group differences in cognitive and neuropsych...

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The Effect of Race and Health-Related Factors on Naming and Memory

Abstract: The racial differences found in test performance may reflect differences in cultural appropriateness of the material rather than differences in ability.

Cited by 52 publications

References 62 publications

The Influence of Social Support and Health on Everyday Problem Solving in Adult African Americans

The Influence of Social Support and Health on Everyday Problem Solving in Adult African Americans

Lifecourse Social Conditions and Racial and Ethnic Patterns of Cognitive Aging

Characterizing and Explaining Differences in Cognitive Test Performance Between African American and European American Older Adults

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