Depressive Symptoms but not Chronic Stress Mediate the Link Between Income and Cognition in Latino and Black Older Adults: Findings from the Health and Aging Brain Study-Health Disparities.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

The mechanisms linking economic resources to cognition in older ethnic/racial minorities remain unclear. This study examined whether depressive symptoms and chronic stress mediate the link between income and both episodic memory and executive functioning in Black and Latino older adults.

Methods

We analyzed data from 579 Black and 1,056 Latino older participants in the Health and Aging Brain Study-Health Disparities. Mediation models estimated the total, direct, and indirect effects of income on memory and executive functioning through depressive symptoms and chronic stress.

Results

Among Black adults, depressive symptoms significantly mediated the association between income and both memory (B = 0.025, CI [0.007, 0.052]) and executive functioning (B = 0.036

SUBMITTER: Breton J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12857763 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature