IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v333y2023ics0277953623005300.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Parental education and epigenetic aging in middle-aged and older adults in the United States: A life course perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Korous, Kevin M.
  • Surachman, Agus
  • Rogers, Charles R.
  • Cuevas, Adolfo G.

Abstract

Epigenetic aging is one plausible mechanism by which socioeconomic status (SES) contributes to disparities in morbidity and mortality. Although the association between SES and epigenetic aging is well documented, the role of parental education into adulthood remains understudied. We examined (1) if parental education was independently associated with epigenetic aging, (2) whether upward educational mobility buffered this association, and (3) if the benefit of parental education was differentiated by race/ethnicity. Secondary data analysis of a subsample (n = 3875) of Non-Hispanic [NH] Black, Hispanic, NH White, and NH other race participants from the Venous Blood Study within Health and Retirement Study were examined. Thirteen clocks based on DNA methylation of cytosine-phosphate-guanine sites were used to calculate epigenetic aging. Participants' education (personal) and their report of their respective parent's education (parental; mother's and/or father's) were included as independent variables; several potential confounders were also included. Direct associations and interactions between parental and personal education were estimated via survey-weighted generalized linear models; marginal means for epigenetic aging were estimated and contrasts were made between the education subcategories. Analyses were also stratified by race/ethnicity. Our results showed that higher parental education was independently associated with slower epigenetic aging among four clocks, whereas higher personal education magnified this association among four different epigenetic clocks. Participants with the lowest parental and personal education had higher marginal means (i.e., accelerated aging) compared to participants with the highest parental and personal education, and there was little evidence of upward mobility. These associations were more frequently observed among NH White participants, whereas fewer were observed for Hispanic and NH Black participants. Overall, our findings support that early-life circumstances may be biologically embedded through epigenetic aging, which may also limit the biological benefits associated with one's own education.

Suggested Citation

  • Korous, Kevin M. & Surachman, Agus & Rogers, Charles R. & Cuevas, Adolfo G., 2023. "Parental education and epigenetic aging in middle-aged and older adults in the United States: A life course perspective," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 333(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:333:y:2023:i:c:s0277953623005300
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116173
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953623005300
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116173?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yan Zhang & Rory Wilson & Jonathan Heiss & Lutz P. Breitling & Kai-Uwe Saum & Ben Schöttker & Bernd Holleczek & Melanie Waldenberger & Annette Peters & Hermann Brenner, 2017. "DNA methylation signatures in peripheral blood strongly predict all-cause mortality," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-11, April.
    2. Collins, William J. & Margo, Robert A., 2000. "Residential segregation and socioeconomic outcomes: When did ghettos go bad?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 239-243, November.
    3. repec:nas:journl:v:115:y:2018:p:109-114 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Geronimus, A.T. & Hicken, M. & Keene, D. & Bound, J., 2006. ""Weathering" and age patterns of allostatic load scores among blacks and whites in the United States," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 96(5), pages 826-833.
    5. Eide, Eric R. & Showalter, Mark H., 2011. "Estimating the relation between health and education: What do we know and what do we need to know?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 778-791, October.
    6. Loucks, Eric B. & Pilote, Louise & Lynch, John W. & Richard, Hugues & Almeida, Nisha D. & Benjamin, Emelia J. & Murabito, Joanne M., 2010. "Life course socioeconomic position is associated with inflammatory markers: The Framingham Offspring Study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 187-195, July.
    7. Ross, Catherine E. & Mirowsky, John, 2011. "The interaction of personal and parental education on health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(4), pages 591-599, February.
    8. Ross, Catherine E. & Mirowsky, John, 2006. "Sex differences in the effect of education on depression: Resource multiplication or resource substitution?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(5), pages 1400-1413, September.
    9. Mäkinen, Tomi & Laaksonen, Mikko & Lahelma, Eero & Rahkonen, Ossi, 2006. "Associations of childhood circumstances with physical and mental functioning in adulthood," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(8), pages 1831-1839, April.
    10. Danielle R. Gilmore & Tzitzi Morán Carreño & Hossein Zare & Justin X. Moore & Charles R. Rogers & Ellen Brooks & Ethan Petersen & Carson Kennedy & Roland J. Thorpe, 2022. "Investigating Racial Differences in Allostatic Load by Educational Attainment among Non-Hispanic Black and White Men," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-8, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yanwen Long & Changli Jia & Xiaoxia Luo & Yufeng Sun & Wenjing Zuo & Yibo Wu & Yunchou Wu & Ayidana Kaierdebieke & Zhi Lin, 2022. "The Impact of Higher Education on Health Literacy: A Comparative Study between Urban and Rural China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-16, September.
    2. Gruenewald, Tara L. & Karlamangla, Arun S. & Hu, Perry & Stein-Merkin, Sharon & Crandall, Carolyn & Koretz, Brandon & Seeman, Teresa E., 2012. "History of socioeconomic disadvantage and allostatic load in later life," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 75-83.
    3. Jennifer Karas Montez & Kaitlyn Barnes, 2016. "The Benefits of Educational Attainment for U.S. Adult Mortality: Are they Contingent on the Broader Environment?," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 35(1), pages 73-100, February.
    4. Sze Yan Liu & Jennifer J Manly & Benjamin D Capistrant & M Maria Glymour, 2015. "Historical Differences in School Term Length and Measured Blood Pressure: Contributions to Persistent Racial Disparities among US-Born Adults," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(6), pages 1-13, June.
    5. Hannelore De Grande & Hadewijch Vandenheede & Patrick Deboosere, 2015. "Educational Inequalities in the Transition to Adulthood in Belgium: The Impact of Intergenerational Mobility on Young-Adult Mortality in 2001-2009," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(12), pages 1-18, December.
    6. Bahadır Dursun & Resul Cesur, 2016. "Transforming lives: the impact of compulsory schooling on hope and happiness," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 29(3), pages 911-956, July.
    7. Matthew A. Andersson & Vida Maralani & Renae Wilkinson, 2022. "Origins and Destinations, but How Much and When? Educational Disparities in Smoking and Drinking Across Adolescence and Young Adulthood," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(2), pages 521-558, April.
    8. Catherine Ross & Ryan Masters & Robert Hummer, 2012. "Education and the Gender Gaps in Health and Mortality," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(4), pages 1157-1183, November.
    9. Bauldry, Shawn, 2014. "Conditional health-related benefits of higher education: An assessment of compensatory versus accumulative mechanisms," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 94-100.
    10. Miao Li & Weidong Wang, 2021. "Educational Disparities in COVID-19 Prevention in China: The Role of Contextual Danger, Perceived Risk, and Interventional Context," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-14, March.
    11. Schaan, Barbara, 2014. "The interaction of family background and personal education on depressive symptoms in later life," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 94-102.
    12. Berg, Mark T. & Simons, Ronald L. & Barr, Ashley & Beach, Steven R.H. & Philibert, Robert A., 2017. "Childhood/Adolescent stressors and allostatic load in adulthood: Support for a calibration model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 130-139.
    13. Jenjira J Yahirun & Connor M Sheehan & Krysia N Mossakowski & Deborah Carr, 2020. "Depression in Later Life: The Role of Adult Children’s College Education for Older Parents’ Mental Health in the United States," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 75(2), pages 389-402.
    14. Shawn Bauldry & Michael J Shanahan & Rosemary Russo & Brent W Roberts & Rodica Damian, 2016. "Attractiveness Compensates for Low Status Background in the Prediction of Educational Attainment," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(6), pages 1-15, June.
    15. Hudson, Darrell L. & Puterman, Eli & Bibbins-Domingo, Kirsten & Matthews, Karen A. & Adler, Nancy E., 2013. "Race, life course socioeconomic position, racial discrimination, depressive symptoms and self-rated health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 7-14.
    16. Andrew Halpern-Manners & Jonas Helgertz & John Robert Warren & Evan Roberts, 2020. "The Effects of Education on Mortality: Evidence From Linked U.S. Census and Administrative Mortality Data," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(4), pages 1513-1541, August.
    17. Danielle R. Gilmore & Tzitzi Morán Carreño & Hossein Zare & Justin X. Moore & Charles R. Rogers & Ellen Brooks & Ethan Petersen & Carson Kennedy & Roland J. Thorpe, 2022. "Investigating Racial Differences in Allostatic Load by Educational Attainment among Non-Hispanic Black and White Men," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-8, April.
    18. Veenstra, Gerry & Vanzella-Yang, Adam, 2022. "Interactions between parental and personal socioeconomic resources and self-rated health: Adjudicating between the resource substitution and resource multiplication theories," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    19. David H Chae & Sean Clouston & Mark L Hatzenbuehler & Michael R Kramer & Hannah L F Cooper & Sacoby M Wilson & Seth I Stephens-Davidowitz & Robert S Gold & Bruce G Link, 2015. "Association between an Internet-Based Measure of Area Racism and Black Mortality," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(4), pages 1-12, April.
    20. Sirois, Catherine, 2020. "The strain of sons' incarceration on mothers’ health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:333:y:2023:i:c:s0277953623005300. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.