The Association Between Divorce and Late-life Brain Health in a Racially and Ethnically Diverse Cohort of Older Adults

INTRODUCTION: Divorce is a common life stressor that may impact late-life brain health. Literature evaluating the relationship of divorce with neuroimaging measures, including structural MRI and amyloid PET, is limited and mixed. METHODS: Using the Kaiser Healthy Aging and Different Life Experiences (KHANDLE) and Study of Healthy Aging in African Americans (STAR) datasets, we analyzed the association of history of divorce with MRI outcomes (n=664) including volumetric measures and white matter hyperintensities using linear regression models, and with PET outcomes (n=385), including standardized uptake value ratio using linear regression and amyloid positivity using relative risk regression. Models adjusted for demographics, southern birth, and parental separation/divorce. Sensitivity analyses included further adjustment for childhood socioeconomic status and stratification by sex. RESULTS: Those with a history of divorce had slightly smaller total cerebrum and hippocampal volumes, as well as greater white matter hyperintensities, but the estimates were imprecise and crossed the null. No association with amyloid was observed. Results were similar in sensitivity analyses. DISCUSSION: Divorce was not meaningfully associated with late-life brain outcomes. Further research should investigate possible sources of heterogeneity, such as differences in the subjective experience of divorce, to understand the role of this stressor in brain aging.