Women Born in “Sexist” U.S. States Are More Likely to Experience Faster Cognitive Decline

According to a new study led by scholars at Columbia University, women who were born in a U.S. state with prevalent structural sexism are more likely to experience cognitive decline earlier in life than women born in states where gender equa;lity is more prevalent.

For their study, the authors examined data on 21,000 participants from the Washington Heights-Inwood Columbia Aging Project and the Health and Retirement Study. The authors determined each state’s level of structural sexism in the decade each woman participant was born through several factors, including women’s overall participation in the labor force and state legislatures at that time.

The analysis revealed that women over the age of 65 who were born in states with greater structural sexism were more likely to experience cognitive decline and poor memory performance earlier in life than women born in other states. This association was most prevalent among Black women compared to women from other racial groups.

In addition to Columbia University, the research team included authors from the University of California, San Francisco and Duke University.