Association of majority versus minority first language multilingualism and socioeconomic status with cognition among older adults residing in India

INTRODUCTION: Multilingualism has been proposed as a protective factor against cognitive aging, but its effects are often intertwined with socioeconomic and sociolinguistic contexts, particularly whether an individual's first language is the societal majority or a minority language. METHODS: We analyzed data from 3854 older adults in the Longitudinal Aging Study in India-Diagnostic Assessment of Dementia (LASI-DAD). Participants were classified as monolingual, majority-language multilingual, or minority-language multilingual. Cognitive outcomes were examined across SES strata using multiple-group models. RESULTS: Higher SES was consistently associated with better cognition. Multilingualism was associated with better cognitive performance at medium and high SES levels, but not at low SES. Among multilinguals, majority-language speakers outperformed minority-language speakers at high SES; however, these differences were largely driven by SES advantages among majority-language speakers. DISCUSSION: Cognitive benefits of multilingualism are not uniform but vary by SES. These findings underscore the importance of context in understanding multilingualism and cognitive aging.