Socioeconomic disadvantage at individual level is associated with poor cognitive outcomes but the link of neighborhood disadvantage with cognitive function is unclear. We used data from Young Finns Study, a population-based cohort, to examine the associations of neighborhood and individual-level disadvantage in childhood (age 3-21 years) and adulthood (age 22 up to the time of cognitive assessment) with cognitive function in mid-adulthood (age 35-49 years). Neighborhood disadvantage was ascertained based on register data, including geo-coded address history. Compared to individuals who experienced neither individual-level nor neighborhood disadvantage in childhood, those who experienced both had, on average, 0.236 SDs lower overall cognitive function scores (95% CI: -0.355 to -0.116) and those who experienced individual-level but not neighborhood disadvantage had 0.196 SDs lower scores (95% CI, -0.323 to -0.070). The estimates were slightly larger for adult individual-level and neighborhood disadvantage. The findings were similar across the cognitive domains and robust to adjustment for a polygenic risk score for cognitive ability. We found no clear evidence of sleep difficulties, depressive symptoms or cardiovascular health mediating the associations. Our findings suggest that socioeconomic disadvantage at individual-level but not neighborhood-level, from childhood to adulthood, may impact on cognitive function in mid-adulthood.
Keywords: cognitive function; cohort study; life course; longitudinal study; neighborhood; socioeconomic disadvantage.
© The Author(s) 2025. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.