The association between lifetime marital histories and later-life cognitive function: evidence from the United States and China.
Objectives We adopted a life course perspective to characterize lifetime marital history typologies and examined their associations with later-life cognitive function in two nationally representative cohorts of adults aged 65+ in the United States and China. We also explored whether the associations...
| Publicado en: | Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences & Social Sciences Vol. 81; no. 8; pp. 1 - 14 |
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| Autores principales: | , , , , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
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Oxford University Press / USA
Aug2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=195931928&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 195931928 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 10795014 JGB jtl: Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences & Social Sciences issn: 10795014 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Aug2026 vid: 81 iid: 8 pid: 622 pub: Oxford University Press / USA artinfo: ui: 195931928 10.1093/geronb/gbag110 ppf: 1 ppct: 13 formats: tig: atl: The association between lifetime marital histories and later-life cognitive function: evidence from the United States and China. aug: au: Cheng, Greta Jianjia Wang, Leping Cho, Tsai-Chin Gross, Alden L Kobayashi, Lindsay C affil: Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States Department of Sociology, College of Arts and Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United StatesDepartment of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States su: United States China Psychological aspects of aging Cross-sectional method Life change events Language & languages Marriage Executive function Sex distribution Culture Age distribution Social norms Marital status Memory Divorce Widowhood Cognitive testing Data analysis Cluster analysis (Statistics) Research funding Questionnaires Multiple regression analysis Descriptive statistics Longitudinal method Life course approach Statistics Comparative studies Data analysis software sug: subj: Psychological aspects of aging Cross-sectional method Life change events Language & languages Marriage Executive function Sex distribution Culture Age distribution Social norms Marital status Memory Divorce Widowhood United States China Cognitive testing Data analysis Cluster analysis (Statistics) Research funding Questionnaires Multiple regression analysis Descriptive statistics Longitudinal method Life course approach Statistics Comparative studies Data analysis software keyword: aged china Chinese Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study cognitive ability Cognitive aging copyrightHolder:The Gerontological Society of America copyrightYear:2026 Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP) Health and Retirement Study health care-associated pneumonia https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbag110 inLanguage:en life event Marital history marriage mental processes publisher:Oxford University Press sameAs:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42308546/ widowhood aged china Chinese Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study cognitive ability Cognitive aging copyrightHolder:The Gerontological Society of America copyrightYear:2026 Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP) Health and Retirement Study health care-associated pneumonia https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbag110 inLanguage:en life event Marital history marriage mental processes publisher:Oxford University Press sameAs:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42308546/ widowhood ab: Objectives We adopted a life course perspective to characterize lifetime marital history typologies and examined their associations with later-life cognitive function in two nationally representative cohorts of adults aged 65+ in the United States and China. We also explored whether the associations vary by gender. Methods We used data from the Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS-HCAP) (n = 3,318) and the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS-HCAP) (n = 5,766). Cognition was measured by general cognitive function, executive function, memory, language, and orientation. Country-specific marital histories from age 18–65 were constructed using sequence and cluster analysis. Population-weighted linear regression models examined the associations of marital histories with general and domain-specific cognitive outcomes. Results Marital histories in the United States are more heterogeneous than in China. Relative to lifelong marriage with a normative age at onset (mid- to late-20s and 30s in both the United States and China), lifelong marriage with an onset in early 20s and premature widowhood by age 50 were associated with worse cognitive function in both countries. American older adults divorced and remarried, or divorced by age 40 without remarrying, did not perform worse across all cognitive outcomes, compared to the normatively married. Lifelong singlehood was associated with worse general cognitive function in China, but not in the United States. Discussion Our findings demonstrate that marital histories, including timing, sequence, and transition, have enduring implications for later-life cognitive health, with patterns shaped by cultural norms and the timing of marital transition. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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