Association of neighbourhood and individual-level socioeconomic disadvantage in childhood and adulthood with cognitive function in mid-adulthood: Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study

Abstract

Socioeconomic disadvantage at individual level is associated with poor cognitive outcomes but the link of neighbourhood disadvantage with cognitive function is unclear. We used data from Young Finns Study, a population-based cohort, to examine the associations of neighbourhood and individual-level disadvantage in childhood (age 3-21 years) and adulthood (age 22 up to the time of cognitive assessment) with cognitive function in mid-adulthood (age 35-49 years). Neighbourhood disadvantage was ascertained based on register data, including geo-coded address history. Compared to individuals who experienced neither individual-level nor neighbourhood disadvantage in childhood, those who experienced both had, on average, 0.236 standard deviations (SDs) lower overall cognitive function scores (95% confidence interval, CI: -0.355 to -0.116) and those who experienced individual-level but not neighbourhood disadvantage had 0.196 SDs lower scores (95% CI: -0.323 to -0.070). The estimates were slightly larger for adult individual-level and neighbourhood disadvantage. The findings were similar across the cognitive domains and robust to adjustment for a polygenic risk score for cognitive ability. We found no clear evidence of sleep difficulties, depressive symptoms or cardiovascular health mediating the associations. Our findings suggest that socioeconomic disadvantage at individual- but not neighbourhood-level, from childhood to adulthood, may impact on cognitive function in mid-adulthood.

Keywords: cognitive function; cohort study; life course; longitudinal study; neighbourhood; socioeconomic disadvantage.