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. 2015 Jul;70(4):557-67.
doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbt133. Epub 2014 Feb 28.

The role of early-life educational quality and literacy in explaining racial disparities in cognition in late life

Shannon Sisco  1 , Alden L Gross  2 , Regina A Shih  3 , Bonnie C Sachs  4 , M Maria Glymour  5 , Katherine J Bangen  6 , Andreana Benitez  7 , Jeannine Skinner  8 , Brooke C Schneider  9 , Jennifer J Manly  10
Affiliations

The role of early-life educational quality and literacy in explaining racial disparities in cognition in late life

Shannon Sisco et al. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2015 Jul.

Abstract

Objectives: Racial disparities in late-life cognition persist even after accounting for educational attainment. We examined whether early-life educational quality and literacy in later life help explain these disparities.

Method: We used longitudinal data from the Washington Heights-Inwood Columbia Aging Project (WHICAP). Educational quality (percent white students; urban/rural school; combined grades in classroom) was operationalized using canonical correlation analysis. Late-life literacy (reading comprehension and ability, writing) was operationalized using confirmatory factor analysis. We examined whether these factors attenuated race-related differences in late-life cognition.

Results: The sample consisted of 1,679 U.S.-born, non-Hispanic, community-living adults aged 65-102 (71% black, 29% white; 70% women). Accounting for educational quality and literacy reduced disparities by 29% for general cognitive functioning, 26% for memory, and 32% for executive functioning but did not predict differences in rate of cognitive change.

Discussion: Early-life educational quality and literacy in late life explain a substantial portion of race-related disparities in late-life cognitive function.

Keywords: Cognition; Life events and contexts; Minority and diverse populations.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Diagrams for early-life educational quality and late-life literacy. We used six indicators to form a formative indicator representing early-life educational quality using canonical correlation analysis (A). We used four indicators to form a reflective indicator representing late-life literacy using confirmatory factor analysis (B). WRAT = Wide Range Achievement Test.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Empirical distribution of scores for early-life educational quality and late-life literacy by racial group: results from Washington Heights-Inwood Columbia Aging Project (WHICAP; N = 1,676). There is a dot for each participant in the sample. Plots demonstrate acceptable overlap for both scales between the groups.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
General cognitive trajectories of top and bottom 3% for educational quality and literacy. Shown is a random sample of general cognitive trajectories for participants in the lowest 3% of early-life educational quality (top left), top 3% of early-life educational quality (top right), lowest 3% of late-life literacy (bottom left), and top 3% of late-life literacy (bottom right).
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