Objectives: We examined the association of generational status and age at immigration with later life cognitive outcomes in a diverse sample of Latinos and Asian Americans.
Design: Baseline data were obtained from the Kaiser Healthy Aging and Diverse Life Experiences (KHANDLE) study, and a prospective cohort is initiated in 2017.
Setting: Older adults in Northern California.
Participants: Our cohort consisted of Asians (n = 411) and Latinos (n = 340) who were on average 76 years old (SD = 6.8).
Measurements: We used multivariable linear regression models to estimate associations between generational status and age at immigration (collapsed into one five-level variable) with measures of verbal episodic memory, semantic memory, and executive function, adjusting for age, gender, race and ethnicity, and own- and parental education.
Results: Generational status and age at immigration were associated with cognitive outcomes in a graded manner. Compared to third-generation or higher immigrants, first-generation immigration in adulthood was associated with lower semantic memory (β = -0.96; 95% CI: -1.12, -0.81) than immigration in adolescence (β = -0.68; 95% CI: -0.96, -0.41) or childhood (β = -0.28; 95% CI: -0.49, -0.06). Moreover, immigration in adulthood was associated with lower executive function (β = -0.63; 95% CI: -0.78, -0.48) than immigration in adolescence (β = -0.49; 95% CI: -0.75, -0.23). Similarly, compared to third-generation individuals, first-generation immigrants had lower executive functioning scores.
Conclusions: Our study supports the notion that sociocontextual influences in early life impact later life cognitive scores. Longitudinal studies are needed to further clarify how immigration characteristics affect cognitive decline.
Keywords: cognition; diversity; nativity status; race/ethnicity.