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

阿尔茨海默氏病和相关痴呆症（ADRD）不成比例地影响社会弱势群体的个人，但寿命心理社会压力因素在这些差异中的作用尚不确定。假设社交网络是对心理社会压力源的恢复力的关键来源，但尚不清楚它们是否缓和了压力源对ADRD风险的不利影响，或者社交网络提供的缓冲是否在不同种族/民族群体中是一致的。睡眠障碍是一种潜在的生物行为机制，通过这种机制，压力源可能会增加ADRD的风险，但睡眠的介导作用尚未得到正式评估。了解心理社会压力源和可改变的恢复力来源和生物行为机制对ADRD风险的影响，将指导潜在的干预措施，以减少ADRD差异。该提案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，为她开展专注于减少ADRD社会不平等的职业生涯做好准备。 该研究建议采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人认知结果之间的复杂关系。具体的目的是确定社交网络和睡眠障碍在以下不良影响中的作用： 四个种族/民族群体中ADRD风险的早期生活压力因素。这项研究将使用来自凯泽健康老龄化和多样化生活经验研究（KHANDLE）的数据，这是一项生命历程研究，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，亚洲人和拉丁美洲人样本中的风险因素，认知能力下降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，并为候选人的进步提供重要的培训，成为一个独立的流行病学家，专注于ADRD的差异，通过发展专业知识1）因果推理方法，包括中介建模; 2）ADRD的流行病学和定量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;四是学术研究的专业技能。先进 该奖项提供的培训，指导和受保护的时间将为候选人提供领导最高质量的老龄化研究所需的技能和经验，并成功地成为独立调查员。

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.