Social engagement and its links to cognition differ across non-Hispanic Black and White older adults.

Objective: Racial inequalities in dementia have been linked to disparities in socioeconomic status, chronic diseases, and psychosocial stress. Less focus has been given to psychosocial protective factors. Previous studies suggest that social engagement promotes better cognitive aging, but few have examined whether social engagement or its associations with cognition vary across non-Hispanic Whites (NHW) and Blacks (NHB).

Depressive Symptoms, Leisure Activity Engagement, and Global Cognition in Non-Hispanic Black and White Older Adults.

Objectives: Prior research indicates that depressive symptoms disproportionately affect cognition in non-Hispanic Blacks relative to non-Hispanic Whites. Depressive symptoms have been linked to worse global cognition in older adulthood through lower leisure activity engagement, but less is known regarding the distinct types of activities that drive these associations and whether associations involving depressive symptoms, leisure activities, and cognition differ across racial groups.

Methods: This cross-sectional study used data from the Michigan Cognitive Aging Project (n = 453, 52.