Understanding cognitive impairment in the U.S. through the lenses of intersectionality and (un)conditional cumulative (dis)advantage

Abstract

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Intersectional inequalities in the transition to grandparenthood and cognitive functioning: A longitudinal Multilevel Analysis of Individual Heterogeneity and Discriminatory Accuracy (MAIHDA)

“…Because cognitive functioning is curvilinear over the life-course ( Hale et al, 2022 ), we adjusted for mean-centered age and a quadratic age term. We also adjusted for a variable of time centered at the transition ( t = 0 for the first wave when respondents reported having grandchildren).…”

“…Despite the growing interest in how dimensions of social stratification are intertwined, practically no quantitative research has investigated cognitive functioning from an intersectional perspective ( Hale et al, 2022 ). In the present study we investigate inequalities in healthy aging by studying the association of the transition to grandparenthood with cognitive functioning, and how the impact differs across intersectional strata defined by sex/gender, migration, education, and occupation.…”

Intersectional Inequalities in the Transition to Grandparenthood and Cognitive Functioning: A Longitudinal Multilevel Analysis of Individual Heterogeneity and Discriminatory Accuracy

“…Despite the growing interest in how dimensions of social strati cation are intertwined, practically no quantitative research has investigated cognitive functioning from an intersectional perspective (Hale et al, 2022). In the present study we investigate inequalities in healthy aging by studying the association of the transition to grandparenthood with cognitive functioning, and how the impact differs across intersectional strata de ned by sex/gender, migration, education, and occupation.…”

Inequalities in disability-free and disabling multimorbid life expectancy in Costa Rica, Mexico, and the United States

“…We additionally adopt the sociological concept of cumulative (dis)advantage (Dannefer, 1987;DiPrete & Eirich, 2006;Merton, 1968Merton, , 1988 and apply it to the idea of health and disease accumulation. We define cumulative (dis)advantage as in Hale et al (2022), based on two risk factors, education and gender, and assume that lower MMLE is better. We also assume that having more education and being male will result in lower MMLE.…”

“…If, however, the gender difference is larger amongst high-educated (the difference in MMLE between women and men is larger amongst high-educated) we can say that high-educated men experience cumulative advantage. Based on this definition, cumulative advantage and cumulative disadvantage are diametrically opposed concepts -either one or the other can occur, but not both (Hale et al, 2022). There is also the possibility of no evidence for either cumulative advantage or disadvantage, if the educational differences are exactly the same for both men and women across education groups.…”