Socioeconomic Position Across the Life Course and Cognitive Ability Later in Life: The Importance of Considering Early Cognitive Ability

Objective: Investigate direct and indirect associations between markers of socioeconomic position (SEP) across the life course and midlife cognitive ability while addressing methodological limitations in prior work. Method: Longitudinal data from the Danish Metropolit cohort of men born in 1953 (N =...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of aging and health 2019-07, Vol.31 (6), p.947-966
Main Authors: Foverskov, Else, Mortensen, Erik Lykke, Holm, Anders, Pedersen, Jolene Lee Masters, Osler, Merete, Lund, Rikke
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ability tests
Adolescent
Aging - physiology
Child
Cognition - physiology
Cognitive ability
Denmark
Educational Status
Follow-Up Studies
Health technology assessment
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Prospective Studies
Social Class
Socioeconomic Factors
Structural equation modeling
Time Factors
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Objective: Investigate direct and indirect associations between markers of socioeconomic position (SEP) across the life course and midlife cognitive ability while addressing methodological limitations in prior work. Method: Longitudinal data from the Danish Metropolit cohort of men born in 1953 (N = 2,479) who completed ability tests at age 12, 18, and 56-58 linked to register-based information on paternal occupational class, educational attainment, and occupational level. Associations were assessed using structural equation models, and different models were estimated to examine the importance of accounting for childhood ability and measurement error. Results: Associations between adult SEP measures and midlife ability decreased significantly when adjusting for childhood ability and measurement error. The association between childhood and midlife ability was by far the strongest. Discussion: The impact of adult SEP on later life ability may be exaggerated when not accounting for the stability of individual differences in cognitive ability and measurement error in test scores.
ISSN:0898-2643
1552-6887
DOI:10.1177/0898264317742810