Late-life marital status is associated with cognitive aging; however, the influence of life course marital biography (i.e., changes in marital status) on late-life cognitive trajectories, as well as gender differences in the effects of marital biography, remain to be explored. Associations between (a) marital status at study baseline (currently married, previously married, never married) and (b) retrospectively reported life course marital biography (i.e., age at first marriage, time spent unmarried following initial marriage, history of divorce, history of widowhood) and up to 20 years of subsequent episodic memory trajectories were examined using latent growth curve models in 3,061 participants aged 51 + in the Health and Retirement Study 2017 Life History Mail Survey. Gender differences were examined with multiplicative interaction terms and stratified models. Participants who were married at study baseline demonstrated higher initial memory than previously and never married individuals. Older age at first marriage and shorter duration spent unmarried were each associated with better initial episodic memory among previously married individuals only; longer duration spent unmarried was associated with slower memory decline. Stratified models suggested that these associations may be driven by women. These results highlight the importance of considering multiple aspects of marital biography, not just current marital status, in cognitive aging research. Marital biography may have an enduring influence on cognitive aging, particularly among previously married older women. Future work is needed to identify mechanisms (e.g., socioeconomic resources, cognitive stimulation, self and spousal health, emotional support) through which marital histories influence cognitive aging. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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生命历程婚姻传记与晚年记忆力下降之间的关联。

晚年婚姻状况与认知老化有关；然而，生命历程婚姻传记（即婚姻状况的变化）对晚年认知轨迹的影响，以及婚姻传记影响中的性别差异，仍有待探索。(a) 研究基线时的婚姻状况（目前已婚、以前已婚、未婚）与 (b) 回顾性报告的生命历程婚姻传记（即初婚年龄、初婚后未婚时间、离婚史、病史）之间的关联在健康和退休研究 2017 年生活史邮件调查中，使用潜在增长曲线模型对 3,061 名 51 岁及以上的参与者进行了研究，研究了他们的寡妇身份）和长达 20 年的后续情节记忆轨迹。用乘法交互项和分层模型检查性别差异。在研究基线时已婚的参与者表现出比以前和从未结婚的人更高的初始记忆。仅在已婚个体中，初婚年龄较大和未婚时间较短均与更好的初始情景记忆相关；未婚时间越长，记忆力下降越慢。分层模型表明，这些关联可能是由女性驱动的。这些结果强调了在认知老化研究中考虑婚姻传记的多个方面的重要性，而不仅仅是当前的婚姻状况。婚姻传记可能对认知老化有持久的影响，尤其是在以前已婚的老年妇女中。未来的工作需要确定婚姻史影响认知老化的机制（例如，社会经济资源、认知刺激、自我和配偶健康、情感支持）。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2021 APA，保留所有权利）。