Objective:
To investigate the association between multilingualism and accelerated aging in adults aged 51 to 90 years across Europe.
Approach:
- Study Population: Examined 86,149 adults aged 51 to 90 years without diagnosed dementia across 27 European countries.
- Biobehavioral Clock: Utilized a biobehavioral clock based on cognition, functional ability, education, physical activity, cardiometabolic conditions, and sensory impairment.
- Analysis Methods: Conducted cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses to assess the relationship between multilingualism and aging.
Key Findings:
- Functional ability was the strongest protective predictor against accelerated aging.
- Multilingualism was associated with 54% lower odds of accelerated aging in cross-sectional analysis.
- Monolingualism was linked to 2.11 times the odds of accelerated aging.
- Longitudinally, multilingualism correlated with a 30% lower risk of accelerated aging.
- A dose-response pattern was observed: risk decreased by 10% with 1 additional language, 20% with 2, and 29% with 3 or more.
Interpretation:
Most associations remained significant across age groups and after adjusting for various factors; however, multilingualism was measured at the country level, not individually.
Limitations:
- Observational design cannot establish causality.
- Multilingualism assessed at the country level may not reflect individual experiences.
Conclusion:
The findings suggest a potential link between multilingualism and reduced risk of accelerated aging.
Sources:
This content is an AI-generated, fully rewritten summary based on a published scholarly article. It does not reproduce the original text and is not a substitute for the original publication. Readers are encouraged to consult the source for full context, data, and methodology.
