Acculturation, Socioeconomic Status, and Cognitive Functioning Among Older Immigrants in the United States: An Interaction Analysis.

IF 2 3区医学 Q2 GERONTOLOGY

Journal of Applied Gerontology Pub Date : 2026-11-01 Epub Date: 2025-11-18 DOI:10.1177/07334648251400488

Xiang Qi, Shahmir H Ali, Yaolin Pei, Bei Wu

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

This study investigated how acculturation and socioeconomic status (SES) jointly influence cognitive health among older immigrants in the US. We analyzed nationally representative data from the 2011-2014 NHANES for 797 older immigrants aged 60 and older. Acculturation was measured by language spoken at home (English vs. other) and length of US residence, while SES was derived by latent class analysis using family poverty-to-income ratio, education, longest-held occupation, and health insurance coverage. Cognitive performance was evaluated using standardized neuropsychological tests. Speaking English at home was associated with better cognitive performance (p < 0.01). Crucially, SES significantly moderated this relationship (p < 0.05 for interaction); the cognitive benefits of English use were more pronounced for low-SES immigrants. Length of US residence showed weaker associations and was not moderated by SES. Linguistic acculturation is a vital component of comprehensive approaches to mitigate cognitive decline and advance health equity in the US' rapidly growing aging immigrant population.

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美国老年移民的文化适应、社会经济地位和认知功能：一个相互作用的分析。

本研究调查了文化适应和社会经济地位（SES）如何共同影响美国老年移民的认知健康。我们分析了2011-2014年NHANES中797名60岁及以上老年移民的全国代表性数据。文化适应是通过在家里使用的语言（英语与其他语言）和在美国居住的时间来衡量的，而社会经济地位是通过使用家庭贫困与收入比、教育、最长职业和医疗保险覆盖率的潜在阶级分析得出的。使用标准化的神经心理学测试评估认知表现。在家说英语与更好的认知表现相关（p < 0.01）。重要的是，SES显著调节了这种关系（交互作用p < 0.05）；使用英语的认知益处在低社会经济地位的移民中更为明显。在美国居住时间较弱，不受社会经济地位的影响。在美国快速增长的老龄化移民人口中，语言文化适应是缓解认知能力下降和促进健康公平的综合方法的重要组成部分。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Applied Gerontology GERONTOLOGY-

CiteScore

5.10

自引率

13.30%

发文量

202

期刊介绍： The Journal of Applied Gerontology (JAG) is the official journal of the Southern Gerontological Society. It features articles that focus on research applications intended to improve the quality of life of older persons or to enhance our understanding of age-related issues that will eventually lead to such outcomes. We construe application broadly and encourage contributions across a range of applications toward those foci, including interventions, methodology, policy, and theory. Manuscripts from all disciplines represented in gerontology are welcome. Because the circulation and intended audience of JAG is global, contributions from international authors are encouraged.