Advantaged socioeconomic conditions in childhood are associated with higher cognitive functioning but stronger cognitive decline in older age

Aartsen, Marja J.; Cheval, Boris; Sieber, Stefan; Van der Linden, Bernadette W.; Gabriel, Rainer; Courvoisier, Delphine S.; Guessous, Idris; Burton-Jeangros, Claudine; Blane, David; Ihle, Andreas; Kliegel, Matthias; Cullati, Stéphane

doi:10.21256/zhaw-3361

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-3361

Publication type:	Article in scientific journal
Type of review:	Peer review (publication)
Title:	Advantaged socioeconomic conditions in childhood are associated with higher cognitive functioning but stronger cognitive decline in older age
Authors:	Aartsen, Marja J. Cheval, Boris Sieber, Stefan Van der Linden, Bernadette W. Gabriel, Rainer Courvoisier, Delphine S. Guessous, Idris Burton-Jeangros, Claudine Blane, David Ihle, Andreas Kliegel, Matthias Cullati, Stéphane
DOI:	10.21256/zhaw-3361 10.1073/pnas.1807679116
Published in:	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Page(s):	201807679
Issue Date:	2019
Publisher / Ed. Institution:	National Academy of Sciences
ISSN:	0027-8424 1091-6490
Language:	English
Subjects:	Socioeconomic position; Cognition; Life course; Life span; Aging
Subject (DDC):	155: Differential and developmental psychology 305: Groups (age, origine, gender, income)
Abstract:	Cognitive aging is characterized by large heterogeneity, which may be due to variations in childhood socio-economic conditions (CSC). Although there is substantial evidence for an effect of CSC on levels of cognitive functioning at older age, results on associations with cognitive decline are mixed. We examined by means of an accelerated longitudinal design the association between CSC and cognitive trajectories from 50 to 96 years. Cognition included two functions generally found to decline with aging: delayed recall and verbal fluency. Data are from six waves of the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), conducted between 2004 and 2015 (n = 24,066 at baseline; 56% female, age 50+). We found a consistent CSC pattern in levels of cognitive functioning in later life. Older people with disadvantaged CSC had lower levels of cognitive functioning than those with more advantaged CSC. We also find that decline is almost 1.6 times faster in the most advantaged group compared with the most disadvantaged group. The faster decline for people with more advantaged CSC becomes less pronounced when we additionally control for adulthood socio-economic conditions and current levels of physical activity, depressive symptoms, and partner status. Our findings are in line with the latency, pathway, and cumulative model and lend support to theories of cognitive reserve, stating that neuronal loss can no longer be repaired in people with more cognitive reserve once the underlying pathology is substantial and speed of decline is accelerated.
URI:	https://digitalcollection.zhaw.ch/handle/11475/15720
Fulltext version:	Published version
License (according to publishing contract):	CC BY-NC-ND 4.0: Attribution - Non commercial - No derivatives 4.0 International
Departement:	Social Work
Organisational Unit:	Institute of Diversity and Social Integration (IVGT)
Appears in collections:	Publikationen Soziale Arbeit

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Aartsen, M. J., Cheval, B., Sieber, S., Van der Linden, B. W., Gabriel, R., Courvoisier, D. S., Guessous, I., Burton-Jeangros, C., Blane, D., Ihle, A., Kliegel, M., & Cullati, S. (2019). Advantaged socioeconomic conditions in childhood are associated with higher cognitive functioning but stronger cognitive decline in older age. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 201807679. https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-3361

Aartsen, M.J. et al. (2019) ‘Advantaged socioeconomic conditions in childhood are associated with higher cognitive functioning but stronger cognitive decline in older age’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, p. 201807679. Available at: https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-3361.

M. J. Aartsen et al., “Advantaged socioeconomic conditions in childhood are associated with higher cognitive functioning but stronger cognitive decline in older age,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, p. 201807679, 2019, doi: 10.21256/zhaw-3361.

AARTSEN, Marja J., Boris CHEVAL, Stefan SIEBER, Bernadette W. VAN DER LINDEN, Rainer GABRIEL, Delphine S. COURVOISIER, Idris GUESSOUS, Claudine BURTON-JEANGROS, David BLANE, Andreas IHLE, Matthias KLIEGEL und Stéphane CULLATI, 2019. Advantaged socioeconomic conditions in childhood are associated with higher cognitive functioning but stronger cognitive decline in older age. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2019. S. 201807679. DOI 10.21256/zhaw-3361

Aartsen, Marja J., Boris Cheval, Stefan Sieber, Bernadette W. Van der Linden, Rainer Gabriel, Delphine S. Courvoisier, Idris Guessous, et al. 2019. “Advantaged Socioeconomic Conditions in Childhood Are Associated with Higher Cognitive Functioning but Stronger Cognitive Decline in Older Age.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 201807679. https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-3361.

Aartsen, Marja J., et al. “Advantaged Socioeconomic Conditions in Childhood Are Associated with Higher Cognitive Functioning but Stronger Cognitive Decline in Older Age.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2019, p. 201807679, https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-3361.