Death of a Child Prior to Midlife, Dementia Risk, and Racial Disparities

Death of a Child Prior to Midlife, Dementia Risk, and Racial Disparities

Umberson D; Donnelly R; Xu M; Farina M; Garcia M A

Journals of Gerontology. Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences

2019

bereavement; cumulative advantage/disadvantage; Dementia; minority aging (race/ethnicity)

OBJECTIVES: This study considers whether experiencing the death of a child prior to midlife (by parental age 40) is associated with subsequent dementia risk, and how such losses, which are more common for black than for white parents, may add to racial disparities in dementia risk. METHOD: We use discrete-time event history models to predict dementia incidence among 9,276 non-Hispanic white and 2,182 non-Hispanic black respondents from the Health and Retirement Study, 2000-2014. RESULTS: Losing a child prior to midlife is associated with increased risk for later dementia, and adds to disparities in dementia risk associated with race. The death of a child is associated with a number of biosocial variables that contribute to subsequent dementia risk, helping to explain how the death of child may increase risk over time.

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