ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN CUMULATIVE STRESS AND COGNITIVE FUNCTION IN HRS AND ELSA

Abstract

Abstract Despite growing research linking stressors with poorer cognition, less research explicitly considers stress from several sources, which often co-occurs and accumulate to influence health. We used the Global Gateway Harmonized data (HRS: n=8,888; mean age: 74 years; ELSA: n=6,715; mean age: 65 years) to examine whether higher cumulative stress is associated with lower levels of and faster decline in cognitive function. We fit linear mixed effect models to assess the stress-cognition associations. After adjusting for all covariates, baseline cumulative stress was associated with lower baseline cognitive function in both HRS (β=-0.02, 95%CI -0.04, -0.01) and ELSA (β=-0.03, 95%CI -0.05, -0.01). Unexpectedly, higher baseline cumulative stress was associated with slower cognitive decline in HRS (βtime*stress=0.001, 95%CI 0.002,0.01) but not in ELSA. The stress-cognition associations may differ among adults in the US and the UK. Future research should investigate how cumulative stress may operate differently to influence cognitive function across different populations.