{"id":239721,"date":"2024-04-12T11:54:58","date_gmt":"2024-04-12T15:54:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=239721"},"modified":"2024-04-14T12:46:50","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T16:46:50","slug":"depression-may-lead-to-faster-cognitive-decline-among-black-latino-adults","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2024\/depression-may-lead-to-faster-cognitive-decline-among-black-latino-adults\/","title":{"rendered":"Depression May Lead to Faster Cognitive Decline among Black, Latino Adults"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin sphnews-block-editorial-leadin is-style-side-by-side has-media has-wider has-media-focus-center-middle\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2121\" height=\"1414\" src=\"\/sph\/files\/2024\/04\/depression-dementia.jpg\" class=\"\" alt=\"Close-up side view of a lonely woman sitting at home with sad look\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/04\/depression-dementia.jpg 2121w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/04\/depression-dementia-636x424.jpg 636w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/04\/depression-dementia-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/04\/depression-dementia-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/04\/depression-dementia-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/04\/depression-dementia-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/04\/depression-dementia-755x503.jpg 755w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/04\/depression-dementia-1500x1000.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/04\/depression-dementia-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/04\/depression-dementia-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/04\/depression-dementia-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/04\/depression-dementia-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/04\/depression-dementia-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2121px) 100vw, 2121px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-prepress-tag\">mental health<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<strong>Depression May Lead to Faster Cognitive Decline among Black, Latino Adults\u00a0<\/strong>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">The findings suggest that Black and Latino adults are more susceptible to the negative effects of depressive symptoms later in life, even if they experience these symptoms less often than White adults.<br><\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar sphnews-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">April 12, 2024<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/authors\/jillian-mckoy\/\">Jillian McKoy<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<p>Although multiple studies have <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/24931304\/\" target=\"_blank\">linked<\/a> depression to cognitive decline, there remains a gap in knowledge in the different ways depression affects cognition, and whether this association differs across racial\/ethnic groups.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A study led by researchers at the School of Public Health found that depressive symptoms were associated with worse cognition among all racial\/ethnic groups, but were particularly harmful among Black and Latino older adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Published in <a href=\"https:\/\/alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1002\/alz.13768\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Alzheimer\u2019s &amp; Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer\u2019s Association<\/em><\/a>, the results showed that depression spurred faster cognitive decline among Black and Latino older adults. Associations between depression and cognitive decline were especially significant for Latino individuals\u2014at several times the magnitude than in White individuals. These declines were less apparent among both Asian and White older adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAs there are no cures for dementia, and because dementia is a long-term disease, it is important to identify risk factors earlier in the life course that can be intervened to slow down cognitive decline later in life,\u201d says study lead and corresponding author <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/profile\/marcia-pescador-jimenez\/\">Marcia Pescador Jimenez<\/a>, assistant professor of epidemiology. \u201cOur study suggests that treating depressive symptoms, particularly among Black and Latino older adults could delay cognitive decline.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the study, Pescador Jimenez and colleagues utilized data on cognition and depressive symptoms among 2,227 Asian, Black, Latino, or White adults ages 50 and older who completed up to three cognitive assessments over a four-year period.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Among all participants, depressive symptoms were associated with worse scores in executive function\u2014skills that enable people to manage planning, organization, time management, self-control, and other fundamental functions\u2014as well as semantic memory (the capacity to recall words and concepts).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Higher depressive symptoms were also linked to lower scores in verbal episodic memory (memory of events and experiences), among Black and Latino participants, but not among Asian or White participants. The decline was especially high among Black participants.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;It is very encouraging to see research on dementia broadening to evaluate important factors for Asian, Black, and Latino older adults alongside White adults,&#8221; says study senior author <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/profile\/maria-glymour\/\">Maria Glymour<\/a>, chair and professor of epidemiology. &#8220;This is a critical step forward to reduce risk of dementia for all adults.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Consistent with prior research, Asian and Black adults had lower scores of depressive symptoms at baseline than their Latino and White counterparts. The fact that Black adults showed lower scores of depression but higher rates of cognitive decline could reflect racial disparities in healthcare access, which may affect how depression is diagnosed and treated among Black patients, the researchers note.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe know through the \u2018Minority Stress Theory\u2019 that exposure to racial discrimination and acculturative stress constitutes a hostile psychological environment leading to negative health consequences,\u201d Pescador Jimenez says. \u201cBased on this, we were interested in the different experience of depressive symptoms by race and ethnicity and how this difference could be associated with cognitive health. For our next steps, we aim to examine how the effects of individual factors, such as depression, are potentially shaped by environment conditions that may be especially important for Black and Latino adults living in communities affected by unequal opportunities due to decades of systemic racism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The study was coauthored by researchers at SPH, Kaiser Permanente, Columbia University, the University of California Irvine School of Medicine, and the University of California, Davis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Although multiple studies have linked depression to cognitive decline, there remains a gap in knowledge in the different ways depression affects cognition, and whether this association differs across racial\/ethnic groups.&nbsp; A study led by researchers at the School of Public Health found that depressive symptoms were associated with worse cognition among all racial\/ethnic groups, but [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15205,"featured_media":239768,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[2592,3788,1973,1872,3891,1871,1793,4006,3887],"bu-publication":[3516],"sphnews-article-category":[3519,3530,3531,3540],"sphnews-topic":[],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"profile_tax":[3718,4351],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/239721"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15205"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239721"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/239721\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":239889,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/239721\/revisions\/239889"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239721"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=239721"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-article-category?post=239721"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-topic?post=239721"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=239721"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=239721"},{"taxonomy":"profile_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile_tax?post=239721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}