Disability, health and generation status: how Hispanics in the US fare in late life.

Using prospective data from a cohort of elderly Hispanics, this study explores how first-, second- and 1.5-generation Latinos differ in their levels and trajectories of disability. The results indicate that compared to second-generation elderly Hispanics, first- and 1.5-generation Hispanics had higher levels of disability. In addition, 1.5-generation elderly Hispanics had higher average ADL and IADL limitations than second-generation Hispanics at the beginning, and over time, this difference increasingly diverged. Currently married individuals had lower levels of disability than formerly married Hispanics. Also, marriage at any point in time significantly limits variability in disability in the sample, indicating that readily available spousal support is significant in diminishing generation differences in disability. Implications from these findings for future research are discussed.