Lifecourse Stressors and Social Disparities in Cognitive Aging: The Roles of Social Networks and Sleep Disturbance

阿尔茨海默病和相关痴呆症(ADRD)对社会弱势群体的个人影响不成比例，但寿命心理社会应激源在这些差异中的作用尚不确定。社交网络被认为是抵御心理社会压力的关键来源，但尚不清楚它们是否缓和了应激源对ADRD风险的不利影响，或者社交网络提供的缓冲在不同的种族/民族群体中是否一致。睡眠障碍是一种潜在的生物行为机制，应激源可能通过这种机制增加ADRD的风险，但睡眠的中介作用尚未得到正式评估。了解心理社会应激源和可改变的复原力来源以及生物行为机制对ADRD风险的影响将指导潜在的干预措施，以减少ADRD差异。这项建议包括一项培训和研究计划，以发展候选人在ADRD研究方面的专业知识，为她开始专注于减少ADRD中的社会不平等的职业生涯做好准备。 该研究建议应用因果推理方法来阐明早期社会劣势、心理社会和生物行为因素以及老年认知结果之间的复杂关系。研究的具体目标是确定社交网络和睡眠障碍对睡眠不良影响的作用 四个种族/民族的早期生活压力源对ADRD风险的影响。这项研究将使用凯撒健康老龄化和多样化生活体验研究(KHANDLE)的数据，这是一项生命过程研究，将中年(40-50年前)收集的风险因素数据与加州老年非拉丁裔白人、黑人、亚裔和拉丁裔样本中的风险因素、认知衰退和痴呆症的当代评估联系起来。 拟议的项目将产生新的知识，并为候选人成为一名专注于ADRD差异的独立流行病学家提供至关重要的培训，通过发展1)因果推断方法，包括调解建模；2)ADRD流行病学和定量ADRD研究方法，包括纵向分析和心理测量学；3)睡眠障碍的生理学和心理学；以及4)学术研究职业的专业技能。先进的 该奖项提供的培训、指导和受保护的时间将为候选人提供必要的技能和经验，以领导最高质量的衰老研究并作为一名独立研究者取得成功。

Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias (ADRD) disproportionately affect individuals from socially disadvantaged groups, but the role of lifespan psychosocial stressors in these disparities is uncertain. Social networks are hypothesized to be key sources of resilience against psychosocial stressors, but it is unknown if they moderate the adverse effects of stressors on ADRD risk or whether the buffering provided by social networks is consistent across diverse racial/ethnic groups. Sleep disturbance is a potential biobehavioral mechanism via which stressors may increase ADRD risk, but the mediating role of sleep has not been formally evaluated. Understanding the effects of psychosocial stressors and modifiable sources of resilience and biobehavioral mechanisms on ADRD risk will guide potential interventions to reduce ADRD disparities. This proposal encompasses a training and research plan to develop the candidate’s expertise in ADRD research, preparing her to launch a career focused on reducing social inequalities in ADRD. The research proposal applies causal inference methods to elucidate the complex relationships between early social disadvantages, psychosocial and biobehavioral factors, and cognitive outcomes in older adulthood. The specific aims are to determine the roles of social networks and sleep disturbances for the adverse effects of early-life stressors on ADRD risk across four racial/ethnic groups. This research will use data from the Kaiser Healthy Aging and Diverse Life Experience Study (KHANDLE), a life-course study linking risk factor data collected in mid-life (40-50 years ago) with contemporary assessments of risk factors, cognitive decline, and dementia in a sample of older non-Latino Whites, Blacks, Asians, and Latinos in California. The proposed project will generate new knowledge and provide crucial training for the candidate’s advancement to become an independent epidemiologist focused on ADRD disparities by developing expertise in 1) causal inference methods, including mediation modeling; 2) the epidemiology of ADRD and quantitative ADRD research methods, including longitudinal analyses and psychometrics; 3) the physiology and psychology of sleep disturbances; and 4) professional skills for an academic research career. The advanced training, mentorship, and protected time provided by this award will provide the candidate with the skills and experience necessary to lead the highest quality aging research and succeed as an independent investigator.