Long-Term Trends in Adult Socio-Economic Resemblance between Former Schoolmates and Neighbouring Children

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 366-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Are Skeie Hermansen ◽  
Nicolai T Borgen ◽  
Arne Mastekaasa

Abstract Schools and residential neighbourhoods constitute key contexts of development beyond the family of origin. Yet, few prior studies address whether the overall impact of these childhood contexts on adult life chances has changed over time. In this article, we investigate changes in socio-economic resemblance between former schoolmates and neighbouring children using Norwegian administrative data covering three decades. We use cross-classified multilevel models to decompose the variance in children’s educational attainment and adult earnings into the contributions found within and between their school and neighbourhood contexts in adolescence. We find that unadjusted school and neighbourhood correlations in educational attainment are relatively modest and declining over time. These trends largely reflect declining socio-economic segregation between schools and neighbourhoods over time. After adjusting for sorting by family background, schools account for 2 per cent or less of the total variation in completed years of education in the more recent cohorts and neighbourhoods even less. For adult earnings, the adjusted school correlations are very low, accounting for around 1 per cent of the total variance, while the contribution of neighbourhoods is close to zero. Our findings suggest that adolescent school and neighbourhood contexts are not major determinants of children’s later-life socio-economic attainments in the Norwegian welfare state setting.

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 620-621
Author(s):  
Yijung Kim ◽  
Kyungmin Kim ◽  
Shevaun Neupert ◽  
Kathrin Boerner

Abstract Marriage or other types of partnerships are consequential for health in later life, but its association to self-perceptions of aging remains a relatively unexplored area of research. This study used three waves of panel data from the Health and Retirement Study (N = 4,315) to examine how changes in the health status and relationship quality over time contribute to self-perceptions of aging for married/partnered men and women. Multilevel models showed that women demonstrated more positive self-perceptions of aging than men, but there was no gender difference in how self-perceptions of aging became more negative over time. The findings on the main and moderating effects of health and relationship quality give evidence that changes across time, as well as average differences in individual characteristics, may affect self-perceptions of married/partnered men and women differently. The context in which gender shapes key aspects of life contributes to self-perceptions of aging in later life.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Zajacova ◽  
Hanna Grol-Prokopcyzk ◽  
Zachary Zimmer

Determining long-term trends in chronic pain prevalence is critical for evaluating and shaping US health policies, but little research has examined such trends. This study (1) provides estimates of pain trends among US adults across major population groups; (2) tests whether sociodemographic disparities in pain have widened or narrowed over time; and (3) examines socioeconomic, behavioral, psychological, and medical correlates of pain trends. Regression and decomposition analyses of joint, low-back, neck, migraine, and jaw/facial pain using the 2002-2018 National Health Interview Survey for adults aged 25-84 (N=441,707) assess the trends and their correlates. We find extensive escalation of pain prevalence in all population subgroups: overall, reports of pain in at least one site increased by 10%, representing an additional 10.5 million adults experiencing pain. Socioeconomic disparities are widening over time, and psychological distress and health behaviors are among the salient correlates of the trends. This study thus comprehensively documents rising pain prevalence among Americans across the adult life span and highlights socioeconomic, behavioral, and psychological factors as important correlates of the trends. Chronic pain is an important dimension of population health and demographic research should include it when studying health and health disparities.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Fletcher ◽  
Michael Topping ◽  
Fengyi Zheng ◽  
Qiongshi Lu

A growing literature has sought to tie educational attainment with later-life cognition and Alzheimer's disease outcomes. This paper leverages sibling comparisons in educational attainment as well as genetic predictors (polygenic scores) for cognition, educational attainment, and Alzheimer's disease to estimate effects of educational attainment on cognition in older age in the United Kingdom. We find that the effects of education on cognition are confounded by family background factors (~40%) and by genetics (<10%). After adjustments, we continue to find large effects of education. College graduates have cognition scores that are approximately 0.75 SD higher than those who report no credentials. We also find evidence that educational effects on cognition are smaller for those with high polygenic scores for Alzheimer's disease.


2022 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuan Yao ◽  
Shun Zhang ◽  
Aihong Li

In China, the health of the elderly has long been discussed, but few have investigated the diversity of the aging pattern in later life of this population. Although a large body of literature has approved the positive association between socioeconomic status (SES) and health, it still remains controversial regarding whether the association becomes convergent or divergent in old ages. Using data from China's 2010 and 2015 Inter-census Survey (1‰ sample), this paper explored the role of two key SES indicators, educational attainment and housing condition in modifying the self-rated health of Chinese elders aged 60 and above. We observed the diversified patterns of how educational attainment and housing condition have made an impact on the health of these elders in their old age and the temporal changes of the two SES indicators. We found higher educational attainment and better housing condition can lead to higher self-rated health. This positive significance however diminished with age over time, as we observed from 2010 to 2015, indicating the convergent effects of SES on health in old age. We also found that although educational attainment and housing condition were both positively correlated with health, their effects were differentiated. The influence of educational attainment on health waxed, whereas on housing conditions waned over time. These findings suggested the heterogeneity of health and SES effects among Chinese elders.


Demography ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Zajacova ◽  
Hanna Grol-Prokopczyk ◽  
Zachary Zimmer

Abstract Determining long-term trends in chronic pain prevalence is critical for evaluating and shaping U.S. health policies, but little research has examined such trends. This study (1) provides estimates of pain trends among U.S. adults across major population groups; (2) tests whether sociodemographic disparities in pain have widened or narrowed over time; and (3) examines socioeconomic, behavioral, psychological, and medical correlates of pain trends. Regression and decomposition analyses of joint, low back, neck, facial/jaw pain, and headache/migraine using the 2002–2018 National Health Interview Survey for adults aged 25–84 (N  =  441,707) assess the trends and their correlates. We find extensive escalation of pain prevalence in all population subgroups: overall, reports of pain in at least one site increased by 10%, representing an additional 10.5 million adults experiencing pain. Socioeconomic disparities in pain are widening over time, and psychological distress and health behaviors are among the salient correlates of the trends. This study thus comprehensively documents rising pain prevalence among Americans across the adult life span and highlights socioeconomic, behavioral, and psychological factors as important correlates of the trends. Chronic pain is an important dimension of population health, and demographic research should include it when studying health and health disparities.


Author(s):  
Michael W. Pratt ◽  
M. Kyle Matsuba ◽  
Heather L. Lawford ◽  
Feliciano Villar

This chapter addresses the development of generativity, Erikson’s conception of the midlife strength in his eight-stage model of personality development. Following Erikson, the authors define generativity as care for next generations and set it in the context of both personality theory and life span development. Specifically, the authors draw on the framework of McAdams that characterizes personality as composed of three sequentially developing levels: actions, goals/motives, and the narrative life story (a mature form of narrative that provides the self with a sense of meaning and identity). The authors then review research on generativity as expressed from adolescence to later adulthood, which indicates that it is a relevant construct across this entire period in a variety of life domains. They also consider factors influencing generativity levels, including family background and cultural variations. Throughout the chapter, the authors consider the connections of generativity to morality across different facets of personality and stages of the adult life span.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiina Vikstedt ◽  
Martti Arffman ◽  
Satu Heliövaara-Peippo ◽  
Kristiina Manderbacka ◽  
Eeva Reissell ◽  
...  

Abstract Background A persistent research finding in Finland and elsewhere has been variation in medical practices both between and within countries. Variation seems to exist especially if medical decision making involves discretion and the best treatment cannot be identified unambiguously. This is true for hysterectomy when performed for benign causes. The aim of the current study was to investigate regional trends in hysterectomy in Finland and the potential convergence of rates over time. Methods We used hospital discharge register data on hysterectomies performed, diagnoses, age, and region of residence to examine hospital discharges for women undergoing hysterectomy in 2001–2018 among total female population aged 25 years or older in Finland. We examined hysterectomy rates among biannual cohorts by indication, calculated age-standardised rates and used multilevel models to analyse potential convergence over time. Results Altogether 131,695 hysterectomies were performed in Finland 2001–2018. We found a decreasing trend, with the age-adjusted overall hysterectomy rate decreasing from 553/100,000 person years in 2001–2002 to 289/100,000 py in 2017–2018. Large but converging regional differences were found. The correlations between hospital district intercepts and slopes in time ranged from − 0.71 to − 0.97 (p < 0.001) suggesting diminishing variation. Conclusions Our findings demonstrate that change in hysterectomy practices and more uniformity across regions are achievable goals. Regional variation still exists suggesting differences in medical practices.


2021 ◽  
pp. 000276422110134
Author(s):  
Kerry Ard ◽  
Kevin Smiley

Scholars interested in understanding the unequal exposure to environmental harms by race and class have often relied on urban sociological theory. Specifically, the argument that the outmigration of middle-class Whites and African Americans from America’s industrial areas, as well as the decline in manufacturing employment in these communities, concentrated minority poverty around industrial sites. These nested, community-level, processes have not yet been measured as such in the environmental inequality literature. This article addresses this limitation by using spatial measures of poverty segregation between and within racial groups. Multilevel models are presented that examine how the density of industrial facilities is related to the economic health of a host-tract, the broader economic context of the county, and the level of poverty segregation (both within and between racial/ethnic groups). Results demonstrate that there is a spatial separation of the economic benefits and environmental harms across the United States, a pattern that has remained consistent over time.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 307-307
Author(s):  
Sok An ◽  
Kyeongmo Kim ◽  
Minhong Lee

Abstract Previous literature suggests that social factors (e.g., social cohesion, social support) are protective predictors of mental health problems. However, there might be a reciprocal relationship between social factors and mental health and the relationship changes over time. Therefore, this study examined the longitudinal relationship between community social cohesion and mental health using a latent growth curve model with 8 waves of the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS; 2011-2018), a nationally representative panel study of Medicare beneficiaries in the United States. Social cohesion measured the perceived level of mutual trust by three items (score range: 0-6) and mental health was measured by PHQ-4 (score range: 0-12). The final model including covariates (age, gender, functional disabilities) fit the data well: χ2=1036.383, p&lt;.001; RMSEA=.037; CFI=.960; and SRMR=.070. Initial level of social cohesion was negatively associated with initial level of mental health problem (β=−.23, p&lt; .001), suggesting that higher levels of social cohesion was associated with lower levels of mental health problems. The covariance between social cohesion slope and mental health slope was significant (β=−.16, p&lt; .01), suggesting an increase in social cohesion was associated with a decrease in mental health problems over time. Functional disabilities significantly influenced mental health over time, while functional disabilities did not influence social cohesion consistently. This study adds to the growing literature on the ways mental health status and social connection have reciprocal relationships over time. Therefore, mental health status in later life could be decreased by improving social cohesion and connectedness with the community.


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