Early Book Access and Cognitive Aging: Longitudinal Evidence on Cognitive Advantages and Rates of Decline

Purpose of the ResearchUsing longitudinal data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), we examined whether childhood book environment is associated with higher cognitive functioning and better cognitive maintenance later in life, especially among individuals with lower education.Major FindingsAmong 86,619 adults aged 60+ (226,515 person-wave observations from Waves 4-8, with retrospective childhood circumstances from Waves 3 and 7), even modest childhood access to 11-25 books is associated with higher overall cognition levels, independent of education and other covariates, with greater benefits observed in less-educated adults. Book-rich environments are also associated with a more favorable cognitive trajectory over time, particularly for more educated adults, given the potential for steeper late-life decline.ConclusionsFindings support a critical period model of higher cognitive functioning and a cumulative advantage model of longitudinal change, which also align with reserve-depletion patterns.