How adult children's education and economic situation affect parents' Alzheimer’s risk and outcomes
Official title: The contribution of adult child socio-economic status to parents' risk and outcomes of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRDs) in cross-national settings
Funded at University of California, San Francisco · NIH-11261186 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at whether adult children's education and financial resources affect older parents' chances of getting Alzheimer’s and how well parents do if they have dementia.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of California, San Francisco NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (San Francisco, United States) |
| Project start | February 1, 2022 |
| Project end | January 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $734,189 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AG072448-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11261186 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are older adults (and information about their adult children) included in national or international aging and health studies, especially in settings with varied educational and economic backgrounds.
✕Less likely to help
People without adult children or those seeking immediate medical treatment or experimental drugs are unlikely to get direct clinical benefit from this research.
What this research studies
If you are an older parent, this research looks at whether your grown children's schooling, jobs, and income change your risk of Alzheimer’s disease or alter how dementia progresses. The team will combine and compare large population datasets from multiple countries to see patterns across different social and health systems. They will examine both economic supports (like financial transfers) and non-economic pathways (like health knowledge or care assistance) that could explain any links. The goal is to find which groups of older adults might benefit most from improvements in their children's social and economic resources.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the findings could point to family- and policy-level approaches—such as improving education or support for adult children—that help lower parents' dementia risk and improve outcomes for those with ADRDs.
How similar studies have gone: Previous studies have shown adult children's education and SES can affect parents' overall health and mortality, but using these links specifically for Alzheimer’s risk and dementia outcomes is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Torres, Jacqueline Marie — University of California, San Francisco
- Study coordinator: Torres, Jacqueline Marie
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
How adult children's socio-economic status affects their parents' risk of Alzheimer's disease.
This study looks at how the education and financial situation of adult children can affect the risk of Alzheimer's and related dementias in their aging parents, aiming to find ways to help keep older adults healthier based on their children's support.
-
Exploring how helping others may improve cognitive function and reduce Alzheimer's risk in older adults.
This study is looking at how helping others, like volunteering or lending a hand, can boost brain health in older adults, especially in African American communities, to see if these good deeds might help prevent or slow down Alzheimer's Disease.
-
How cardiovascular genetics and APOE ε4 status affect amyloid levels in early Alzheimer's disease
This study is looking at how certain genes and the presence of the APOE ε4 gene might affect the buildup of amyloid plaques in people who are at risk for Alzheimer's disease, especially those with conditions like high cholesterol and high blood pressure, to see if there are ways to protect against Alzheimer's.
-
The link between early life blood sugar levels and Alzheimer's disease markers in middle age.
This study is looking at how blood sugar levels in early life might affect brain health and the risk of Alzheimer's disease later on, and it's for middle-aged people who want to understand how their early life health could impact their memory and thinking in the future.
-
Understanding how brain activity changes may drive Alzheimer’s disease progression in a mouse model
Researchers are testing how changes in brain signals and protein cleanup processes affect the development of Alzheimer’s disease in mice.
-
Thiamine-boosting therapy for Alzheimer’s: understanding how benfotiamine may reduce harmful AGE in DP patients
A medication-based approach using high-dose vitamin B1 (benfotiamine) is studied to help people with Alzheimer's by reducing harmful sugar-related molecules.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.