Association of Parental and Own Educational Attainment Versus Intergenerational Mobility with Cognitive Performance in Brazilian Older Adults

Abstract Background Education is associated with better cognitive performance in later-life. However, the role of intergenerational educational mobility is less studied. We investigated the associations of participants' own educational attainment, the educational attainment of their parents, and educational mobility, with cognitive performance among Brazilian older adults. Methods We used data from the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Aging. Cognitive assessment used a global cognitive z-score derived from memory, temporal orientation, and verbal fluency tests. Education was evaluated in five categories: no formal education, elementary school, middle school, high school, or college + . Parental education was the highest level attained by either parent. Intergenerational educational mobility was classified as upward (participants’ education exceeds parents’ education), downward (participants’ education below parents’ education), and no (participants’ education equal to parents’ education) mobility. Association of parental education, own education, and educational mobility was evaluated using diagonal reference modelling and linear regression. Results In 4,849 participants, mean (SD) age was 62.8 (8.8), 48.1% were women, 51.7% were Black/Mixed race, 7.5% of participants completed college + , and 67.2% of participants attained higher education level than their parents. Parental education level had a lower contribution to the participant’s cognitive performance than the participant’s own education. Higher parental and own education were independently associated with better cognitive performance. Upward mobility attenuated the association of parental education with cognitive performance. Downward and no mobility were not associated with cognition. Conclusion Individual education was more strongly associated with cognition than parental background, and upward mobility was linked to a reduced parental education association.