UC Davis

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.