The Importance of Children in the Lives of Aging Black Men: The Impact on Cognitive Functioning

Background/ Purpose:

Recent advances in knowledge indicate that social resources such as quality of emotional support and social integration can slow cognitive decline in aging persons.  Aging Black persons are twice more likely to have cognitive impairment than aging White persons, however, little is known regarding the effect of social resource factors on cognition in aging Black adults.  The purpose of this paper is to explore both the evaluative and structural components of social resources as predictors of cognitive functioning among aging Black men.

Methods:

Data for the study came from the 2010 wave of the University of Michigan's Health and Retirement Study.  The analyzed sample was comprised of 338 men who self-identified as African American/Black, ages 50-90, without dementia.  Controlling for factors known to influence cognitive functioning, a multiple regression analysis of four categories of social resources (i.e. quality of social supports, social networks, social integration, and social influence) was conducted to determine their effect on global cognitive functioning in men. 

Results: 

The factors that were statistically related to cognitive functioning in aging Black men were:  education (β = .20), perceived constraints (β = -.19), positive family support (β = -.21), and frequency of contact with children (β = .19).  Education and frequency of contact with children were positively related to cognitive functioning and perceived constraints and positive family support were negatively related to cognitive functioning in aging Black men.  Overall, the model explains 19% of the variance in global cognition (R² = .19; df = 225; F = 13.90 p < .001). 

Conclusions/Implications:

This study highlights the importance of emotional support in aging Black men with lower cognition.  Felt loss of control in the form of constraints was associated with lower cognition, indicating the importance of helping Black men to foster a sense of independence to maintain cognitive functioning.  Further, this study indicates that frequency of contact with children significantly impacts cognitive functioning in men, with no other relationship showing statistical significance (family, and friends).  Lastly, the findings demonstrate that both the evaluative aspects of social relationships (perceptions of support) and the structural components (types of relationships or frequency of contacts) are important in predicting cognitive functioning for Black men. 

Practices targeting the reduction of constraints and strengthening family, friend, and children networks may mitigate cognitive decline in Black men and increase their global cognition as they age.  Additionally, findings can help to inform future revisions of the National Alzheimer’s Plan that specifically focus on non-pharmaceutical interventions. 

 

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