Perceived Discrimination and Physical, Cognitive, and Emotional Health in Older Adulthood

• Published in: The American journal of geriatric psychiatry 2015-02, Vol.23 (2), p.171-179
• Main Authors: Sutin, Angelina R., Ph.D, Stephan, Yannick, Ph.D, Carretta, Henry, Ph.D., M.P.H, Terracciano, Antonio, Ph.D
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Cognition; Female; Geriatry and gerontology; Health Status; Human health and pathology; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Internal Medicine; Life Sciences; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Mental Health; Prejudice - psychology; Psychology; Social Perception
• ISSN: 1064-7481; 1545-7214
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jagp.2014.03.007

Objective To examine whether perceived discrimination based on multiple personal characteristics is associated with physical, emotional, and cognitive health concurrently, prospectively, and with change in health over time among older adults. Design Longitudinal. Setting Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Participants Participants (N = 7,622) who completed the Leave-Behind Questionnaire as part of the 2006 HRS assessment (mean age 67 years); participants (N = 6,450) completed the same health measures again in 2010. Measurements Participants rated their everyday experience with discrimination and attributed those experiences to eight personal characteristics: race, ancestry, sex, age, weight, physical disability, appearance, and sexual orientation. At both the 2006 and 2010 assessments, participants completed measures of physical health (subjective health, disease burden), emotional health (life satisfaction, loneliness), and cognitive health (memory, mental status). Results Discrimination based on age, weight, physical disability, and appearance was associated with poor subjective health, greater disease burden, lower life satisfaction, and greater loneliness at both assessments and with declines in health across the four years. Discrimination based on race, ancestry, sex, and sexual orientation was associated with greater loneliness at both time points, but not with change over time. Discrimination was mostly unrelated to cognitive health. Conclusions The detrimental effect of discrimination on physical and emotional health is not limited to young adulthood but continues to contribute to health and well-being in old age. These effects were driven primarily by discrimination based on personal characteristics that change over time (e.g., age, weight) rather than discrimination based on more stable characteristics (e.g., race, sex).