Aging
Number of children and domain-specific cognitive function in middle aged and older adults living in the United States Meredith L. Phillips* Meredith Phillips Christina Ludema Joshua W. Brown Jaroslaw Harezlak Molly Rosenberg
Background: The number of children a person has may be associated with mid- to later-life cognitive function due to the risk and protective factors related to having and raising children, including physiological and hormonal changes, changes in sleep patterns and deprivation, stress, cognitive stimulation, and social support.
Methods: We estimated the association between number of children and cognitive function using data from the Human Connectome Project- Aging (HCP-A) (n=558, ages 36-100+). We fit linear mixed effects models with categorical number of children (0, 1-2, 3-4, and 5+) as the predictor and z-normalized cognitive scores in four domains (total cognition, memory, language, and executive function) as the outcomes, with random effects for study site. We then independently stratified models by sex and age (<60 or ≥60). We adjusted models for sex, age in years, education, employment status, and marital status.
Results: Compared to those with 0 children, men with 3-4 children had lower total cognition scores (-0.43 SD, 95% CI: -0.79, -0.07), lower memory scores (-0.40 SD, 95% CI: -0.79, -0.01), and lower language scores (-0.63 SD, 95% CI: -1.04, -0.22) but similar executive function scores. Compared to those with 0 children, women with 3-4 children had lower language scores (-0.46 SD, 95% CI: -0.91, -0.02) but similar total cognition, memory, and executive function scores. Men and women with 1-2 and 5+ children had scores similar to those with 0 children across domains. In the middle age group, total cognition was lower in those with 1-2 and 3-4 children, executive function was lower in those with 5+ children, and language scores were lower in all groups.
Conclusions: In this US sample, having a moderately high number of children was associated with decreased performance across most domains. We found this more for men than for women, with women showing lower scores only in language, while men showed lower scores in total cognition, memory, and language.
