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Should we all go to college? Revisiting educational benefits for memory aging in a large-scale study

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  • Oi, Katsuya

Abstract

Education is a robust predictor of episodic memory, yet its role in memory aging remains ambiguous. Prior studies often restrict analyses to “healthy” subsamples or focus narrowly on impairment, leaving open whether educational gradients simply reflect preserved health. Data and Methods: Using nationally representative Health and Retirement Study data, we followed 15,597 U.S. adults aged 51+ over 16 years (106,173 observations). Dual-outcome latent growth models estimated immediate recall (attention/encoding) and retention (storage/retrieval), conditioning trajectories on time-varying indicators of homeostatic dysregulation (e.g., CRP, blood sugar, BMI), frailty (e.g., grip strength, FEV), mortality, cognitive impairment, and self-reported health and disease.

Suggested Citation

  • Oi, Katsuya, 2025. "Should we all go to college? Revisiting educational benefits for memory aging in a large-scale study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 387(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:387:y:2025:i:c:s0277953625010263
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118695
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    References listed on IDEAS

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