IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/geronb/v75y2020i3p613-624..html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Socioeconomic Status and Biological Risks for Health and Illness Across the Life Course

Author

Listed:
  • Yang Claire Yang
  • Kristen Schorpp
  • Courtney Boen
  • Moira Johnson
  • Kathleen Mullan Harris
  • Deborah Carr

Abstract

ObjectivesWe assess the temporal properties and biosocial mechanisms underlying the associations between early-life socioeconomic status (SES) and later health. Using a life-course design spanning adolescence to older adulthood, we assess how early life and various dimensions of adult SES are associated with immune and metabolic function in different life stages and examine possible bio-behavioral and psychosocial mechanisms underlying these associations.MethodData for this study come from 3 national studies that collectively cover multiple stages of the life course (Add Health, MIDUS, and HRS). We estimated generalized linear models to examine the prospective associations between early-life SES, adult SES, and biomarkers of chronic inflammation and metabolic disorder assessed at follow-up. We further conducted formal tests of mediation to assess the role of adult SES in linking early SES to biological functions.ResultsWe found that early-life SES exerted consistent protective effects for metabolic disorder across the life span, but waned with time for CRP. The protective effect of respondent education remained persistent for CRP but declined with age for metabolic disorder. Adult income and assets primarily protected respondents against physiological dysregulation in middle and old ages, but not in early adulthood.DiscussionThese findings are the first to elucidate the life-course patterns of SES that matter for underlying physiological functioning during the aging process to produce social gradients in health.

Suggested Citation

  • Yang Claire Yang & Kristen Schorpp & Courtney Boen & Moira Johnson & Kathleen Mullan Harris & Deborah Carr, 2020. "Socioeconomic Status and Biological Risks for Health and Illness Across the Life Course," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 75(3), pages 613-624.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:geronb:v:75:y:2020:i:3:p:613-624.
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/geronb/gby108
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    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. Pamela Herd & Brian Goesling & James S. House, "undated". "Socioeconomic Position and Health: The Differential Effects of Education versus Income on the Onset versus Progression of Health Problems," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 441d34cf576545a8b8bd05ca7, Mathematica Policy Research.
    2. Boen, Courtney & Yang, Y. Claire, 2016. "The physiological impacts of wealth shocks in late life: Evidence from the Great Recession," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 221-230.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gibson-Davis, Christina & Boen, Courtney E. & Keister, Lisa A. & Lowell, Warren, 2023. "Net worth poverty and adult health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 318(C).
    2. Manuela Abbate & Jordi Pericas & Aina M. Yañez & Angel A. López-González & Joan De Pedro-Gómez & Antoni Aguilo & José M. Morales-Asencio & Miquel Bennasar-Veny, 2021. "Socioeconomic Inequalities in Metabolic Syndrome by Age and Gender in a Spanish Working Population," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-16, September.
    3. Brady, David & Guerra, Christian & Kohler, Ulrich & Link, Bruce, 2022. "The Long Arm of Prospective Childhood Income for Mature Adult Health in the United States," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 63(4), pages 543-559.
    4. Cha, Hyungmin, 2022. "Past, present, and future dimensions of socioeconomic status and sexual self-efficacy of young women during the transition into adulthood," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 306(C).
    5. Harari, Lexi & Lee, Chioun, 2021. "Intersectionality in quantitative health disparities research: A systematic review of challenges and limitations in empirical studies," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).

    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. Zachary Zimmer & Yasuhiko Saito & Olga Theou & Clove Haviva & Kenneth Rockwood, 2021. "Education, wealth, and duration of life expected in various degrees of frailty," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 393-404, September.
    2. Shervin Assari, 2018. "Parental Education Better Helps White than Black Families Escape Poverty: National Survey of Children’s Health," Economies, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-14, May.
    3. Karraker, Amelia & Schoeni, Robert F. & Cornman, Jennifer C., 2015. "Psychological and cognitive determinants of mortality: Evidence from a nationally representative sample followed over thirty-five years," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 69-78.
    4. Fenton, Anny T. & Elliott, Marc N. & Schwebel, David C. & Berkowitz, Zahava & Liddon, Nicole C. & Tortolero, Susan R. & Cuccaro, Paula M. & Davies, Suzy L. & Schuster, Mark A., 2018. "Unequal interactions: Examining the role of patient-centered care in reducing inequitable diffusion of a medical innovation, the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 238-248.
    5. Zhang, Hao & Bago d’Uva, Teresa & van Doorslaer, Eddy, 2015. "The gender health gap in China: A decomposition analysis," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 18(C), pages 13-26.
    6. Gonzalo Edwards & Raimundo Soto & Felipe Zurita, 2020. "Life Expectancy and Income Levels in Chile," Documentos de Trabajo 544, Instituto de Economia. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile..
    7. Patel, Pankaj C. & Wolfe, Marcus T., 2019. "Money might not make you happy, but can happiness make you money? The value of leveraging subjective well-being to enhance financial well-being in self-employment," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 12(C).
    8. Smith, William C. & Anderson, Emily & Salinas, Daniel & Horvatek, Renata & Baker, David P., 2015. "A meta-analysis of education effects on chronic disease: The causal dynamics of the Population Education Transition Curve," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 29-40.
    9. Martins, Igor & Cilliers, Jeanne & Fourie, Johan, 2023. "Legacies of loss: The health outcomes of slaveholder compensation in the British Cape Colony," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    10. Shai Bernstein & Timothy Mcquade & Richard R. Townsend, 2021. "Do Household Wealth Shocks Affect Productivity? Evidence from Innovative Workers During the Great Recession," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 76(1), pages 57-111, February.
    11. Elo, Irma T. & Martikainen, Pekka & Myrskylä, Mikko, 2014. "Socioeconomic status across the life course and all-cause and cause-specific mortality in Finland," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 198-206.
    12. Brady, David & Guerra, Christian & Kohler, Ulrich & Link, Bruce, 2021. "The Long Arm of Prospective Childhood Income for Mature Adult Health in the U.S," SocArXiv gwkma, Center for Open Science.
    13. Martins, Igor & Cilliers, Jeanne & Fourie, Johan, 2019. "Legacies of Loss: The intergenerational outcomes of slaveholder compensation in the British Cape Colony," Lund Papers in Economic History 197, Lund University, Department of Economic History.
    14. Mudrazija, Stipica & Butrica, Barbara A., 2023. "How does debt shape health outcomes for older Americans?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 329(C).
    15. Yi-Ching Lin & Jennifer Wu & Shu-Ti Chiou & Tung-liang Chiang, 2015. "Healthy living practices in families and child health in Taiwan," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 60(6), pages 691-698, September.
    16. McDonough, Peggy & Worts, Diana & Sacker, Amanda, 2010. "Socioeconomic inequalities in health dynamics: A comparison of Britain and the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(2), pages 251-260, January.
    17. Svenja M. Spuling & Oliver Huxhold & Susanne Wurm, 2017. "Predictors of Self-Rated Health: Does Education Play a Role Above and Beyond Age?," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 72(3), pages 415-424.
    18. Judith D. Weissman & David Russell & Patricia Ansah & Melanie Jay, 2019. "Disparities in Healthcare Utilization Among Adults with Obesity in the United States, Findings from the NHIS: 2006–2015," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 38(3), pages 403-415, June.
    19. Dermatis Zacharias & Anastasiou Athanasios, 2020. "Monitoring of the Results through a Survey Concerning the Socio-Economic Characteristics of the Elderly Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS): A Case Study in Greece," International Journal of Innovation and Economic Development, Inovatus Services Ltd., vol. 6(3), pages 36-45, August.
    20. Michaela Benzeval & Meena Kumari & Andrew M. Jones, 2016. "How Do Biomarkers and Genetics Contribute to Understanding Society?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(10), pages 1219-1222, October.

    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:oup:geronb:v:75:y:2020:i:3:p:613-624.. 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: Oxford University Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://academic.oup.com/psychsocgerontology .

    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.