Predictors of older adult gambler in representative sample: Implications for education, prevention and treatment

Abstract: Though rates of gambling among older adults appear to be increasing, few studies have examined the factors that distinguish older adult problem gamblers in a representative sample. This presentation will detail findings from a statewide, epidemiological survey using univariate and multinomial logistic regression. Among older adults (56-97; N=624), those with gambling problems were more likely to be African American or to have gambling friends and less likely to be divorced than all other older adult gamblers. Overall, older adult gamblers were more likely than young gamblers (18-35; N=714) to be white, divorced or separated, and undereducated and to report military service, owning a home, using tobacco, having a disability and less likely to play daily fantasy sports, live poker or to bet on sports. Compared to middle-aged adults (36-55; N+624), older adult gamblers were less likely to be Asian or Hispanic, to report drug usage, to play daily fantasy sports, trade high risk stocks or bet on sports, and more likely to report military service or home ownership. Across groups, older adults were underrepresented among those with the highest levels of problem gambling severity but were more likely than other gamblers to participate in multiple gambling activities. Implications: A greater understanding of older adult gamblers will assist in tailoring education, intervention, and treatment efforts to the unique needs and characteristics of this population, resulting in harm reduction and more robust prevention strategies

Race, Childhood Socioeconomic Status, and Region of Childhood Residence as Intersectional Life-Course Predictors of Cognitive Aging in the United States.

Background and objectivesRace, childhood socioeconomic status (cSES), and region of childhood residence are each associated with later-life cognition, but no studies have examined how the confluence of these factors influences later-life cognitive performance. Guided by intersectionality theory, we examined individuals' social positionality across these dimensions as a predictor of cognitive performance in later life among non-Hispanic White (NHW) and non-Hispanic Black (NHB) older adults.Research design and methodsWe used data from the 2010-2016 waves of the Health and Retirement Study with participants aged 65 and older in 2010. We employed growth curve modeling to estimate associations among race, cSES, and region of childhood residence, as well as their interactions, and cognitive performance at baseline and over time.ResultsIdentifying as NHB, residing in the South, and having lower cSES each were associated with poorer later-life cognition at baseline. Childhood residence in the South was an especially strong risk factor for poorer cognition among NHBs. Among NHWs, higher cSES was associated with better baseline cognitive performance, especially among those from the South. NHBs from the South demonstrated a small advantage of higher cSES, but regardless of cSES, NHBs from the South had lower levels of baseline cognitive scores compared to all other subgroups. We observed steeper declines in cognitive performance over the 6-year study period among participants who lived in the South as children.Discussion and implicationsOur findings suggest that intersectional social positions across race, cSES, and region of childhood residence primarily influence baseline cognition in later life. Results implicate the importance of attention to multiple life-course social positions in the context of racism within social policies and other initiatives to promote equity in later-life brain health

Reactions to Testing HIV Negative: An Assessment of Measurement Invariance and Associations with Condomless Anal Sex among English and Spanish-speaking Latinx Sexual Minority Men in the United States

Among the many effective prevention strategies, frequent HIV testing continues to be promoted to reduce the risk of HIV transmission among sexual minority men (SMM). Testing negative for HIV can result in varied reactions that influence subsequent HIV transmission behaviors, yet the extant research has primarily been conducted in English. The current study examined measurement invariance of a Spanish-translated Inventory of Reactions to Testing HIV Negative (IRTHN). The study also examined whether the IRTHN was associated with subsequent condomless anal sex. Data were drawn from 2,170 Latinx SMM subsample of the UNITE Cohort Study. We conducted a multigroup confirmatory factor analysis to test for measurement invariance between participants who opted to take the survey in English (n = 2,024) and those who opted to take it in Spanish (n = 128). We also examined if the IRTHN is associated with subsequent CAS. The results were suggestive of partial invariance. The subscales of Luck and Invulernability were associated with CAS at the 12-month follow-up. Practice and research-based implications are discussed