ABSTRACT

Concrete planning for future care needs may positively impact older adults’ subsequent mental health and quality of life. However, the cognitive factors that facilitate concrete planning among Black and White older adults are still poorly understood. We investigated whether there are significant differences between Black (n = 159) and White (n = 262) older adults in concrete planning and explored racial differences in the relationship between verbal and nonverbal episodic memory and concrete planning. Results revealed that Blacks showed lower engagement in concrete planning and lower scores than Whites on each verbal and nonverbal memory task. For Blacks, but not Whites, verbal memory and nonverbal memory performance predicted concrete planning with higher nonverbal memory relating to less concrete planning and higher verbal memory associated with more concrete planning. Our findings suggest racial differences exist in how episodic verbal and nonverbal memory affect concrete planning, a crucial factor for older adults’ preparation for future care.

摘要

针对未来护理需求的具体规划可能会对老年人随后的心理健康和生活质量产生积极影响。然而，促进黑人和白人老年人具体规划的认知因素仍然知之甚少。我们调查了黑人 ( n  = 159) 和白人 ( n = 262）老年人进行具体规划，并探讨了言语和非言语情景记忆与具体规划之间关系的种族差异。结果显示，黑人在具体计划方面的参与度较低，在每项言语和非言语记忆任务上的得分也低于白人。对于黑人而非白人来说，言语记忆和非言语记忆表现预测了具体计划，较高的非言语记忆与较不具体的计划相关，较高的言语记忆与较具体的计划相关。我们的研究结果表明，情景语言和非语言记忆如何影响具体计划存在种族差异，而具体计划是老年人为未来护理做好准备的关键因素。