A US study has found that after retirement, the decline in mental processes is three times worse for white men than it is for their black peers, with black women showing the least slump, according to the research that tracked 2 226 participants over up to 10 years.
Bloomberg reports that the study, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, found that immediately after retirement, white adults tended to experience a significant worsening of cognitive function – the effect on men being twice as bad as it is on women – whereas for black retirees, the decline was minimal.
The findings were adjusted for socio-demographic variables as well as indicators of physical and mental health.
The results suggest “exposure to lifelong structural inequalities may actually ease transition to retirement with respect to cognitive ageing”, said lead author Ross Andel of Arizona State University’s Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation. That’s because long-standing racial disparities in US education and hiring practices mean black workers have faced substantial barriers to entry into more engaging jobs, Andel said.
Another potential explanation cited in the study is that black Americans have access to “better established social support networks and cultural practices that favour community cohesiveness to a greater extent than is typical for white adults”.
Higher-income men, especially white men, also experience significant cognitive declines immediately before retirement, according to the researchers, which suggests some people undergo a “mental retirement” or disengagement from work before they physically retire.
“White workers, and particularly white men, may be more likely to experience a greater loss of identity, engagement and life direction as they enter retirement,” the study found.
Study details
Retirement and cognitive ageing in a racially diverse sample of older Americans
Ross Andel, Britney Veal, Virginia Howard, Leslie MacDonald, Suzanne Judd, Michael Crowe.
Published in Journal of The American Geriatrics Society on 19 July 2023
Abstract
Background
Retirement represents a crucial transitional period for many adults with possible consequences for cognitive ageing. We examined trajectories of cognitive change before and after retirement in black and white adults.
Methods
Longitudinal examination of up to 10 years (mean = 7.1 ± 2.2 years) using data from the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study–a national, longitudinal study of black and white adults ≥45 years of age. Data were from 2226 members of the REGARDS study who retired around the time when an occupational ancillary survey was administered. Cognitive function was an average of z-scores for tests of verbal fluency, memory, and global function.
Results
Cognitive functioning was stable before retirement (Estimate = 0.05, p = 0.322), followed by a significant decline after retirement (Estimate = −0.15, p < 0.001). The decline was particularly pronounced in white (Estimate = −0.19, p < 0.001) compared with black (Estimate = −0.07, p = 0.077) participants, twice as large in men (Estimate = −0.20, p < 0.001) compared with women (Estimate = −0.11, p < 0.001), highest among white men (Estimate = −0.22, p < 0.001) and lowest in black women (Estimate = −0.04, p = 0.457). Greater post-retirement cognitive decline was also observed among participants who attended college (Estimate = −0.14, p = 0.016). While greater work complexity (Estimate = 0.92, p < 0.05) and higher income (Estimate = 1.03, p < 0.05) were related to better cognitive function at retirement, neither was significantly related to cognitive change after retirement.
Conclusion
Cognitive functioning may decline at an accelerated rate immediately post-retirement, more so in white adults and men than black adults and women. Lifelong structural inequalities including occupational segregation and other social determinants of cognitive health may obscure the role of retirement in cognitive ageing.
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