The effect of intergenerational education on cognitive outcomes for and among Latinos in the United States

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

PROJECT SUMMARY By 2060, the number of individuals in the US living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRDs) is projected to triple to about 13.9 million. Provided that the number of Latinos aged 65 and older is expected to quadruple over the same time period, Latinos will face the largest increase in ADRD cases. Few studies include enough Latino respondents to evaluate the impact of societal ADRDs determinants compared to non- Latino whites and among Latino subgroups (e.g. gender, country of origin and age at migration). This growing population and significant gap in research demonstrate the need to understand societal-level drivers of ADRDs for and among Latinos in the US. Education has been established as a strong predictor of risk for ADRDs, however, the role of inter-generational education (i.e. the intersection of one’s own education with the education of one’s parents’ and/or one’s children) and cognitive outcomes remains largely unknown. In particular, little is known about how intergenerational educational attainment may influence cognitive aging differently for Latinos (vs. non-Latino whites) and among Latino subgroups (e.g. foreign-born vs US-born). Given the heterogeneity of Latinos in the US and dynamic changes in demographics and educational attainment with each new generation, it is critical to understand the impact of intergenerational education on ADRDs for Latinos in the US. The goal of this proposal is to evaluate the relationship between intergenerational education and cognitive outcomes among Latinos and for Latinos compared to non- Hispanic whites in the US. Specifically, this study will evaluate the association between a first-generation (i.e. first in one’s family to achieve a specific level of education) compared to multi-generational (i.e. second or higher generation) high school education and cognitive outcomes among Latino older adults (ages 50-86) by gender, nativity and age at migration in the Study of Latinos – Investigation of Neurocognitive Aging (SOL- INCA) (Aim 1) and for Latino adults compared to non-Hispanic whites in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) (Aim 2). Finally, the proposed study will evaluate the relationship between study respondents’ offspring educational attainment and their own cognitive decline and incident dementia or CIND in Latinos compared to non-Hispanic whites in HRS (Aim 3). The proposal will provide valuable insight on intergenerational education as a modifiable risk factor for ADRDs in Latinos and will inform population-level interventions to prevent ADRDs by improving access to education. The proposed training, guided by an exemplary mentoring team, will prepare me for a career as an independent researcher in ADRDs among US Latinos by advancing my applied knowledge of statistical methods and content expertise needed for rigorous epidemiologic research on this important topic.