Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Early Life Characteristics, Psychiatric History, And Cognition Trajectories In Later Life, Maria Teresa Brown

Falk College Research Center

Purpose of the Study: Although considerable attention has been paid to the relationship between later-life depression and cognitive function, the rela­tionship between a history of psychiatric problems and cognitive function is not very well documented. Few studies of relationships between childhood health, childhood disadvantage, and cognitive func­tion in later life consider both childhood health and disadvantage, include measures for psychiatric history, or use nationally representative longitudinal data. Design and Methods: This study uses growth curve models to analyze the relationships between childhood health and disadvantage, psy­chiatric history, and cognitive function using 6 waves of the Health and Retirement Study, control­ling …