The continuing benefits of education: Adult education and midlife cognitive ability in the British 1946 birth cohort
The continuing benefits of education: Adult education and midlife cognitive ability in the British 1946 birth cohort
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DOI：
10.1093/geronb/62.6.s404
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发表时间：
2007-11-01
影响因子：
6.2
通讯作者：
RichardS, Marcus
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Hatch, Stephani L.;Feinstein, Leon;RichardS, Marcus
目标.有证据表明，教育对认知能力有积极影响。然而，研究人员很少关注成人教育对认知能力的潜在影响，这种影响在中年仍然具有可塑性。本研究的主要目的是探讨教育对中年认知能力的影响是否存在持续性。这项研究使用了医学研究理事会全国健康与发展调查（也称为英国1946年出生队列）的数据和多变量回归来估计成人教育对中年认知能力多项指标的持续影响。成年早期完成的教育程度与中年晚期认知能力的所有指标相关。在成人教育与更高的语言能力、语言记忆和中年后期语言流畅性之间的关联中，教育的持续影响是显而易见的。我们没有发现成人教育与心理速度和集中力之间的联系。成人教育和中年认知能力之间的关联表明，教育对健康的更广泛益处可能对社会融合，福祉和延迟晚年认知能力下降很重要。
Objectives. Evidence shows education positively impacts cognitive ability. However, researchers have given little attention to the potential impact of adult education on cognitive ability, still malleable in midlife. The primary study aim was to examine whether there were continuing effects of education over the life course on midlife cognitive ability.Methods. This study used data from the Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development, also known as the British 1946 birth cohort, and multivariate regression to estimate the continuing effects of adult education on multiple measures of midlife cognitive ability.Results. Educational attainment completed by early adulthood was associated with all measures of cognitive ability in late midlife. The continued effect of education was apparent in the associations between adult education and higher verbal ability, verbal memory, and verbal fluency in late midlife. We found no association between adult education and mental speed and concentration.Discussion. Associations between adult education and midlife cognitive ability indicate wider benefits of education to health that may be important for social integration, well-being, and the delay of cognitive decline in later life.