Public Health.

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Public Health
• Health Disparities

Background:

• Discrimination is linked to adverse health outcomes, potentially increasing Alzheimer's disease and related dementias risk in Black women.
• Cognitive aging research often overlooks intersectional discrimination and group heterogeneity.
• This study explored latent classes of discrimination among Black women to understand its link with episodic memory.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify distinct patterns (latent classes) of intersectional discrimination experienced by Black women.
• To examine the association between everyday discrimination and episodic memory trajectories in this population.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from 1,074 Black women in the Health and Retirement Study (2006-2016).
• Assessed discrimination using the Everyday Discrimination Scale (EDS), covering multiple attributes.
• Employed latent class analysis and multiple-group latent growth curve models to analyze discrimination patterns and episodic memory changes.

Main Results:

• Identified four classes of discrimination, with most participants (69.1%) reporting few or no attributes.
• Higher everyday discrimination correlated with lower baseline episodic memory in the group reporting few discrimination reasons (Group 4).
• Episodic memory declined across all groups, with no significant differences in the rate of decline between discrimination classes.

Conclusions:

• Baseline cognition was most affected by discrimination among Black women reporting the least frequent discrimination or fewest reasons.
• While lower baseline memory was linked to discrimination for some, memory decline over time did not significantly differ across discrimination classes.
• Further research on other cognitive aspects and dementia risk in relation to discrimination is recommended.