Dataset Information

Life Course Pathways From Childhood Socioeconomic Status to Later-Life Cognition: Evidence From the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

A growing body of research indicates that older adults are at greater risk for poorer cognition if they experienced low socioeconomic status (SES) as children. Guided by life course epidemiology, this study aimed to advance understanding of processes through which childhood SES influences cognition decades later, with attention to the role of scholastic performance in adolescence and SES in midlife.

Method

We used data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS), which has followed a cohort of high school graduates since they were 18 years old in 1957. Childhood SES was measured prospectively in adolescence, and measures of memory and language/executive functioning were based on neurocognitive assessments at age 72. We used participants' scores on a statewide standardized test in high school as an indicator of scholastic performance in adolescence. The measure of SES in midlife included years of postsecondary education, income, and occupation status at age 53.

Results

Findings from structural equation models indicated that scholastic performance in adolescence and midlife status attainment together fully mediated associations between childhood SES and both memory and language/executive functioning at age 72. Adolescent scholastic performance was directly associated with later-life cognition, as well as indirectly through midlife status attainment.

Discussion

Findings provide support for both latency and social pathway processes when considering how SES in childhood influences later-life cognition. Results contribute to growing calls for social policies and programs to support optimal brain health at multiple phases throughout the life course, especially among individuals with lower SES as children.

SUBMITTER: Greenfield EA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8200350 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Prior research suggests that participation in enriching early-life activities (EELAs) has long-term benefits for cognitive health and aging. This study aims to examine the life course processes underlying these associations by drawing on theoretical models from life course epidemiology. Specifically, we tested sensitive-period effects, social pathways, and selection effects as potential explanations for linkages between greater participation in EELAs and better later life cognition. We drew on data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS), which is among the longest-running cohort studies in the U.S. that has followed graduates (all identified as non-Hispanic White) from Wisconsin high schools since 1957. We used prospective measures of key variables, including information from high school yearbooks, with assessments of cognitive performance at ages 65 and 72. Results from multilevel modeling indicated that greater participation in cognitively oriented extracurricular activities (but not physically nor socially oriented activities) was associated with both better language/executive functioning and memory at age 65. Although the size of these associations was reduced when accounting for other cognitive resources in adolescence (childhood socioeconomic status and adolescent cognitive ability) and in midlife (adult socioeconomic status and formal group participation), there remained small, yet statistically robust, associations. We did not find robust associations between greater EELA engagement and slower rates of decline in cognition between ages 65 and 72, nor did we find evidence of gender differences. Results suggest that for this cohort of older adults, EELA participation is part of life course "protective chains," whereby exposures to assets at one point in the life course increase the likelihood of subsequent exposures, each sequentially and in their own right, toward better later life cognition. We discuss how results support the importance of policies and practices to promote healthy cognitive development among youth for the long-term cognitive health of a rapidly aging U.S. population.