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Blame the parents? The association between parental longevity and successful ageing

Author

Listed:
  • Edlira Gjonça

    (King's College London)

  • Paola Zaninotto

    (University College London (UCL))

Abstract

Research has suggested that children of long-lived parents might age more successfully than children of short-lived parents. The aim of this study is to contribute further to the understanding of the association between parental longevity and offspring’s successful ageing. We used data from Wave one of the English Longitudinal study of ageing (ELSA) to investigate the association between three measures of parental longevity and the respondents’ cognitive and physical functioning, self-reported health and several chronic diseases. We found that parental lifespan, especially mother’s lifespan, is positively associated with cognitive functioning at older age. Parental lifespan and mother’s lifespan were also found to be associated with a decreased likelihood of occurrence of some chronic diseases such as pulmonary disease, coronary heart disease, hypertension and poor health.

Suggested Citation

  • Edlira Gjonça & Paola Zaninotto, 2008. "Blame the parents? The association between parental longevity and successful ageing," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 19(38), pages 1435-1450.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:19:y:2008:i:38
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2008.19.38
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Guralnik, J.M. & Kaplan, G.A., 1989. "Predictors of healthy aging: Prospective evidence from the Alameda County Study," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 79(6), pages 703-708.
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    Cited by:

    1. Joan Costa-Font & Cristina Vilaplana-Prieto, 2022. "Biased survival expectations and behaviours: Does domain specific information matter?," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 65(3), pages 285-317, December.
    2. Luisa Salaris & Nicola Tedesco & Michel Poulain, 2013. "Familial transmission of human longevity: a population-based study in an inland village of Sardinia (Italy), 1850–2010," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 11(1), pages 325-349.
    3. Joan Costa‐Font & Cristina Vilaplana‐Prieto, 2020. "‘More than one red herring'? Heterogeneous effects of ageing on health care utilisation," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(S1), pages 8-29, October.
    4. Francisco J. Marco-Gracia & Javier Puche, 2020. "Did taller people live longer? Influence of height on life span in rural Spain, 1835-2019," Working Papers 0201, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    longevity; aging; self-reported health; parental lifespan; cognitive functioning; physical functioning;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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