# The effect of intergenerational education on cognitive outcomes for and among Latinos in the United States

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · 2021 · $38,265

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
By 2060, the number of individuals in the US living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRDs) is
projected to triple to about 13.9 million. Provided that the number of Latinos aged 65 and older is expected to
quadruple over the same time period, Latinos will face the largest increase in ADRD cases. Few studies
include enough Latino respondents to evaluate the impact of societal ADRDs determinants compared to non-
Latino whites and among Latino subgroups (e.g. gender, country of origin and age at migration). This growing
population and significant gap in research demonstrate the need to understand societal-level drivers of ADRDs
for and among Latinos in the US. Education has been established as a strong predictor of risk for ADRDs,
however, the role of inter-generational education (i.e. the intersection of one’s own education with the
education of one’s parents’ and/or one’s children) and cognitive outcomes remains largely unknown. In
particular, little is known about how intergenerational educational attainment may influence cognitive aging
differently for Latinos (vs. non-Latino whites) and among Latino subgroups (e.g. foreign-born vs US-born).
Given the heterogeneity of Latinos in the US and dynamic changes in demographics and educational
attainment with each new generation, it is critical to understand the impact of intergenerational education on
ADRDs for Latinos in the US. The goal of this proposal is to evaluate the relationship between
intergenerational education and cognitive outcomes among Latinos and for Latinos compared to non-
Hispanic whites in the US. Specifically, this study will evaluate the association between a first-generation (i.e.
first in one’s family to achieve a specific level of education) compared to multi-generational (i.e. second or
higher generation) high school education and cognitive outcomes among Latino older adults (ages 50-86) by
gender, nativity and age at migration in the Study of Latinos – Investigation of Neurocognitive Aging (SOL-
INCA) (Aim 1) and for Latino adults compared to non-Hispanic whites in the Health and Retirement Study
(HRS) (Aim 2). Finally, the proposed study will evaluate the relationship between study respondents’ offspring
educational attainment and their own cognitive decline and incident dementia or CIND in Latinos compared to
non-Hispanic whites in HRS (Aim 3). The proposal will provide valuable insight on intergenerational education
as a modifiable risk factor for ADRDs in Latinos and will inform population-level interventions to prevent
ADRDs by improving access to education. The proposed training, guided by an exemplary mentoring
team, will prepare me for a career as an independent researcher in ADRDs among US Latinos by
advancing my applied knowledge of statistical methods and content expertise needed for rigorous
epidemiologic research on this important topic.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10140665
- **Project number:** 1F31AG071111-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
- **Principal Investigator:** Erika Meza
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $38,265
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-04-01 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10140665

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10140665, The effect of intergenerational education on cognitive outcomes for and among Latinos in the United States (1F31AG071111-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10140665. Licensed CC0.

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