People who experience prolonged depressive symptoms starting in young adulthood may have worse thinking and memory skills in middle age, according to a study published in the June 12, 2024, online issue of Neurology ® , the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study also found that depressive symptoms were experienced more often by Black adults than white adults. The processes that lead to dementia begin long before signs of the disease become apparent, and previous research has shown that Black adults have a higher risk of dementia than white adults.
Our study found that prolonged exposure to elevated depressive symptoms in young adulthood has a negative effect on thinking and memory in middle age, especially for Black adults." Leslie Grasset, PhD, study author of University of Bordeaux in France The study involved 3,117 people with an average age of 30 at the start of the study. Of participants, 47% were Black and 53% were white.
Participants were evaluated for depressive symptoms every five years for 20 years. At each visit, they completed a questionnaire asking if they experienced changes in appetite or sleep, had problems with concentration or experienced feelings of worthlessness, sadness or loneliness. Higher scores represented more symptoms.
Researchers divided participants into four groups based on the progression of their symptoms over time: persistently low symptoms, medium decreasing, persistently medium or high increasing symptoms. There was.
