Minority stress and psycho-social influences on cognitive performance in sexual minority older adults

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Sexual minorities experience health inequalities, but little is known about differences in neurocognitive health between heterosexual and sexual minority older adults and potential risk factors. To investigate minority stress, depression, and marital status as risk factors for worse cognitive performance in sexual minority older adults.

Research Design and Methods: 336 sexual minority and 5,561 heterosexual participants aged 50+, non-institutionalized and free from neurodegenerative diseases from Wave 6 of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing were included. Cognitive performance (i.e., temporal orientation, episodic memory, and fluid intelligence) of sexual minority and heterosexual older adults was compared using general linear models including age, sex and education as covariates. The differential impact of minority stress, depressive symptoms and marital status on cognition in the two groups was also tested. Analyses were weighted for sampling probability and differential non-response.

Results: Sexual minority participants were more likely to report minority stress and to be single but had better episodic memory than heterosexual participants. Depression and being single were associated with worse cognitive performance in both groups. However, minority stress was negatively associated (b = -2.116, p = 0.016) with fluid intelligence in the sexual minority group only.

Discussion and Implications: Better memory in sexual minority participants and a negative effect of risk factors on cognition are in line with previous studies. However, this study provides the first evidence of a potential negative impact of minority stress on cognitive performance in sexual minorities. Further investigations are needed to assess minority stress more in detail and clarify its potential mechanisms of action on cognition in sexual minorities.