Childhood socioeconomic position and later-life cognitive functioning in the U.S.: A critical review

Abstract

An emerging body of research suggests that later-life cognitive functioning may be partly the result of influences across the life course. Low socioeconomic position in childhood is associated with disparities in cognitive functioning in older adulthood. Framed by the life course perspective, several explanations for this association exist: the latency model, positing that the conditions of low early-life socioeconomic position are directly linked to later-life cognitive functioning; the pathway hypothesis, suggesting that the association is mediated through adult socioeconomic position; and the accumulation of (dis)advantage hypothesis, proposing that the combined conditions of the childhood and adulthood contexts are more impactful than either socioeconomic context alone. The purpose of this critical review was to assess the empirical evidence supporting each hypothesis through a synthesis of the extant literature on the association between childhood socioeconomic position and later-life cognitive functioning. We reviewed 29 studies with U.S. samples and found the strongest evidence for the pathway hypothesis, followed by the accumulation hypothesis. Support for the latency model is present but weaker than the other explanations. The influence of childhood socioeconomic position on cognitive functioning is stronger when cognitive functioning is assessed at a single time point rather than as change over time, suggesting that childhood socioeconomic position might not affect the rate at which cognition declines in later life but does impact performance measured at any designated testing occasion. We conclude with a discussion of the limitations of the state of the literature, directions for future research, and implications for policy.