Abstract
BackgroundThe aims of this study were to examine the extent to which higher intellectual abilities protect higher socio-economic groups from functional decline and to examine whether the contribution of intellectual abilities is independent of childhood deprivation and low birth weight and other socio-economic and developmental factors in early life.MethodsThe Maastricht Aging Study (MAAS) is a prospective cohort study based upon participants in a registration network of general practices in The Netherlands. Information was available on 1211 men and women, 24 – 81 years old, who were without cognitive impairment at baseline (1993 – 1995), who ever had a paid job, and who participated in the six-year follow-up. Main outcomes were longitudinal decline in important components of quality of life and successful aging, i.e., self-reported physical, affective, and cognitive functioning.ResultsPersons with a low occupational level at baseline showed more functional decline than persons with a high occupational level. Socio-economic and developmental factors from early life hardly contributed to the adult socio-economic differences in functional decline. Intellectual abilities, however, took into account more than one third of the association between adult socio-economic status and functional decline. The contribution of the intellectual abilities was independent of the early life factors.ConclusionRather than developmental and socio-economic characteristics of early life, the findings substantiate the importance of intellectual abilities for functional decline and their contribution – as potential, but neglected confounders – to socio-economic differences in functioning, successful aging, and quality of life. The higher intellectual abilities in the higher socio-economic status groups may also underlie the higher prevalences of mastery, self-efficacy and efficient coping styles in these groups.
Highlights
The aims of this study were to examine the extent to which higher intellectual abilities protect higher socio-economic groups from functional decline and to examine whether the contribution of intellectual abilities is independent of childhood deprivation and low birth weight and other socio-economic and developmental factors in early life
A related unresolved issue is whether the association between low socio-economic status and poor health is confounded by lower intellectual abilities in the lower socio-economic groups [11,12]
Using longitudinal data from the Maastricht Aging Study (MAAS), the present study further examines whether the higher intellectual abilities in the high socio-economic status groups protect these groups from declines in reports of physical, affective and cognitive functioning
Summary
The aims of this study were to examine the extent to which higher intellectual abilities protect higher socio-economic groups from functional decline and to examine whether the contribution of intellectual abilities is independent of childhood deprivation and low birth weight and other socio-economic and developmental factors in early life. A related unresolved issue is whether the association between low socio-economic status and poor health is confounded by lower intellectual abilities in the lower socio-economic groups [11,12]. In this context, intelligence has even been postulated as the "elusive fundamental cause of social class inequalities in health" [13]. A recent finding of the London-based Whitehall II study showed that intelligence probably is not the driving force behind socioeconomic inequalities in health in white-collar workers [15] Another recent study, showed that controlling for intelligence led to a marked reduction in the magnitude of the socioeconomic gradients in health [16]. Health measures varied from self-reported mental and physical functioning to coronary heart disease and all-cause mortality
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