Background Increasing educational attainment (EA) could decrease the occurrence of depression. We investigated the relationship between EA and depressive symptoms in older individuals across four European regions. Methods We studied 108,315 Europeans (54% women, median age 63 years old) from the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe assessing EA (seven educational levels based on International Standard Classification of Education [ISCED] classification) and depressive symptoms (≥4 points on EURO-D scale). Logistic regression estimated the association between EA and depressive symptoms, adjusting for sociodemographic and health-related factors, testing for sex/age/region and education interactions. Results Higher EA was associated with lower odds of depressive symptoms, independent of sociodemographic and health-related factors. A threshold of the lowest odds of depressive symptoms was detected at the first stage of tertiary education (OR 0.60; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.55–0.65; p < 0.001; relative to no education). Central and Eastern Europe showed the strongest association (OR for high vs. low education 0.37; 95% CI 0.33–0.40; p < 0.001) and Scandinavia the weakest (OR for high vs. low education 0.69; 95% CI 0.60–0.80; p < 0.001). The association was strongest among younger individuals. There was a sex and education interaction only within Central and Eastern Europe. Conclusions Level of EA is reflected in later-life depressive symptoms, suggesting that supporting individuals in achieving EA, and considering those with lower EA at increased risk for depression, could lead to decreased burden of depression across the life course. Further educational support in Central and Eastern Europe may decrease the higher burden of depressive symptoms in women.
The aim was to investigate the association of parental education at birth with cognitive ability in childhood and young adulthood and determine, whether functional connectivity of the salience network underlies this association. We studied participants of the Czech arm of the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood who underwent assessment of their cognitive ability at age 8 (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children) and 28/29 years (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale) and measurement with resting state functional MRI at age 23/24. We estimated the associations of parental education with cognitive ability and functional connectivity between the seeds in the salience network and other voxels in the brain. We found that lower education of both mothers and fathers was associated with lower verbal IQ, performance IQ and full-scale IQ of the offspring at age 8. Only mother´s education was associated with performance IQ at age 28/29. Lower mother´s education correlated with greater functional connectivity between the right rostral prefrontal cortex and a cluster of voxels in the occipital cortex, which, in turn, was associated with lower performance IQ at age 28/29. We conclude that the impact of parental education, particularly father´s, on offspring´s cognitive ability weakens during the lifecourse. Functional connectivity between the right rostral prefrontal cortex and occipital cortex may be a biomarker underlying the transmission of mother´s education on performance IQ of their offspring.
Introduction Increasing educational attainment (EA) could decrease the occurrence of depression. We investigated the relationship between EA and depressive symptoms in older individuals across four European regions. Objectives 1) examine association between EA and depressive symptoms 2) determine, if there is an upper limit to this association 3) explore regional and demographic differences within this relationship across Europe Methods We studied 108 315 Europeans (54 % women, median age 63 years old) in Europe assessing EA and depressive symptoms. Logistic regression estimated the association between EA and depressive symptoms, adjusting for sociodemographic and health-related factors; testing for sex/age/region and education interactions. Results Higher EA was associated with lower odds of depressive symptoms, independent of sociodemographic and health-related factors. A threshold of the lowest odds of depressive symptoms was detected at the first stage of tertiary education (OR 0.60; 95% CI 0.55-0.65; p<0.001; relative to no education). Central and Eastern Europe showed the strongest association (OR for high vs. low education 0.37; 95% CI 0.33-0.40; p<0.001) and Scandinavia the weakest (OR for high vs. low education 0.69; 95% CI 0.60-0.80; p<0.001). The association was strongest amongst younger individuals. There was a sex and education interaction only within Central and Eastern Europe. Conclusions Level of EA is reflected in later-life depressive symptoms, suggesting that supporting individuals in achieving EA, and considering those with lower EA at increased risk for depression, could lead to decreased burden of depression across the life-course. Further educational support in Central and Eastern Europe may decrease the higher burden of depressive symptoms in women. Disclosure No significant relationships.
In 54 participants (41% women) from the Czech arm of the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood, a national birth cohort with prospectively collected data from their birth until young adulthood, we aimed to study the association between early-life socioeconomic deprivation, cognitive ability in adolescence, trait anxiety and resting state functional connectivity of the lateral prefrontal cortex in young adulthood. We found that early-life socioeconomic deprivation was associated with lower cognitive ability in adolescence (at age 13) as well as higher trait anxiety in young adulthood (at age 23/24). Higher cognitive ability in adolescence predicted lower trait anxiety in young adulthood. Resting state functional connectivity between the right lateral prefrontal cortex and a cluster of voxels including left precentral gyrus, left postcentral gyrus and superior frontal gyrus mediated the relationship between lower cognitive ability in adolescence and higher trait anxiety in young adulthood. These findings indicate that lower cognitive ability and higher trait anxiety may be both consequences of socioeconomic deprivation in early life. The recruitment of the right lateral prefrontal cortex may be the underlying mechanism, through which higher cognitive ability may ameliorate trait anxiety.
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