Gendered life courses and cognitive functioning in later life: the role of context-specific gender norms and lifetime employment

in European Journal of Ageing (2023)

With increasing life expectancy, dementia poses an epidemiological challenge. As a cure has not been developed, the investigation into preventive factors becomes pivotal. Previous research emphasizes the ... [more ▼]

With increasing life expectancy, dementia poses an epidemiological challenge. As a cure has not been developed, the investigation into preventive factors becomes pivotal. Previous research emphasizes the cognitively stimulating and socio-emotional benefits of lifetime employment, but research on heterogeneous patterns across social groups and societal contexts remains sparse. Sociological approaches have a promising potential to provide insights into health inequalities and can contribute to the study of this major societal challenge. We investigate the influence of previous employment biographies on cognitive functioning for men and women aged 50 to 75 in 19 European countries, using longitudinal and retrospective information from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. We link individual information on employment biographies and cognitive functioning to contextual measures of gender norms, using aggregated agreement rates to both men's and women's role in employment and family. We find that previous employment affects cognitive functioning men and women differently. Part-time employment is beneficial for women's cognitive functioning, but not for men's. Traditional gender norms are associated with lower levels of cognitive functioning for both genders and moderate the linkage between previous employment and cognitive functioning. In contexts with more traditional gender norms, men's part-time employment is associated with lower and women's part-time employment with higher cognitive functioning. We conclude that employment and non-employment participation can, depending on characteristics of individuals and contexts, benefit or hinder the life-course accumulation of cognitive reserve, and those with norm-deviating behaviour are disadvantaged. [less ▲]

Partnership and cognitive aging in Europe: Mediating factors and social stratification

in Journals of Gerontology. Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences (2021)

Objectives. Living in a partnership has been shown to benefit later life health in general and decrease the risk of cognitive impairment. Few studies have, however, examined whether different types of ... [more ▼]

Objectives. Living in a partnership has been shown to benefit later life health in general and decrease the risk of cognitive impairment. Few studies have, however, examined whether different types of partnership transitions also differ with respect to their impact on cognitive trajectories, and whether financial resources, health behaviors, cognitive stimulation and social integration can explain these differences. Methods. Data came from six waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, which is a representative panel for the population aged 50 years or older, and was collected between 2004 and 2017 in 20 European countries. Our sample includes 213,023 valid person-year observations from 81,814 persons. Mean age at baseline is 63.86 years, and individuals were observed on average 2.6 times. Cognitive functioning was assessed with measures of immediate and delayed recall on a memory test, and verbal fluency. Fixed-effects regression models were employed to exploit individual-level variation in partnership and simultaneous cognitive changes. Results. Partnership status was stable in most respondents (around 90%). Compared to remaining partnered and after controlling for socio-demographic factors, transition to divorce was associated with a steeper decline in immediate and delayed recall. Exploring possible mechanisms, both financial resources and social integration explained these differences. Additional analyses suggested that effects were mostly driven by individuals with lower education. Discussion. Partnership transitions remain infrequent events in later life, but our findings indicate that they can induce less favorable cognitive trajectories compared to partnered individuals, particularly for those with lower cognitive reserve. [less ▲]