ArticleThe journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences2021
Fertility History and Cognitive Function in Late Life: The Case of Mexico.
Article in The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed.
- Number of living siblings, social engagement, and cognitive decline among older Mexican adults.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2026Observational
- Offspring education and parents' cognitive health: nativity differences among older Hispanic adults.The Gerontologist · 2025Article
- Family Size Across the Life Course and Cognitive Decline in Older Mexican Adults.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2025Article
- Number of children and dementia risk: a causal mediation analysis using data from the HUNT study linked with national registries in Norway.BMC neurology · 2025Article
- Factors associated with symptom severity in stress-induced exhaustion disorder: cohort characterization and cross-sectional correlations.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Childbearing Histories and Midlife Cognition: Accounting for Early Life Factors.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2024Article
- Impact of the South African Child Support Grant on memory decline and dementia probability in rural and low-income mothers, 2014-2021.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2024Article
- Research Note: The Association Between Parity and Odds of Alzheimer's Disease and Dementias Status.Demography · 2024Article
- Associations between the Number of Children, Depressive Symptoms, and Cognition in Middle-Aged and Older Adults: Evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Article
- Black-White Differences in Offspring Educational Attainment and Older Parents' Dementia.Journal of health and social behavior · 2023Article
- Possible cognition changes in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: a narrative review.Obstetrics & gynecology science · 2023Article
- Gender differences in the association between parity and cognitive function: Evidence from the UK biobank.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2023Article
- Associations Between Parity and Cognition: Race/Ethnic Differences.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2023Article
- Fertility History and Risk of Cognitive Impairment Among Older Parents in the United States.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2022Article
- Does Childbearing Affect Cognitive Health in Later Life? Evidence From an Instrumental Variable Approach.Demography · 2022Article
- Pregnancy, preeclampsia and maternal aging: From epidemiology to functional genomics.Ageing research reviews · 2022Review
- A Lifecourse Perspective on Female Sex-Specific Risk Factors for Later Life Cognition.Current neurology and neuroscience reports · 2021Review
- Gender-Based Pathways to Cognitive Aging in the Mexican-Origin Population in the United States: The Significance of Work and Family.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2021Article
- Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesMexico is aging rapidly, which makes identification of life-course factors influencing cognition a public health priority. We evaluate how the number of children one has relates to cognition in Mexico, a rapidly aging country that experienced fertility declines across recent cohorts of older people.
methodWe analyze older adults (age 50+, n = 11,380) from the 2015 Mexican Health and Aging Study. Respondents were categorized by number of children ever born (0-1, 2-3, 4-5, 6+). Using ordinary least squares regression, we estimate independent associations between fertility history and cognition accounting for demographic, socioeconomic, health, and psychosocial factors.
resultsWe observed an inverse U-shaped relationship between number of children (peaking at 2-3 children) and cognitive function, regardless of gender. In regression analyses adjusted for confounding variables, having 0-1 (vs 2-3 children) was associated with poorer cognitive function only for females. Regardless of gender, having 6+ (vs 2-3 children) was associated with poorer cognitive function. These associations remained significant even after accounting for socioeconomic, health, employment, and psychosocial factors. DISCUSSION: Our results suggest fertility history may play a role in late-life cognitive health and provide evidence that both low and high fertility may relate to poorer cognitive function. We discuss differences by gender.
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