Transpersonal Genetic Effects Among Older U.S. Couples: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract Background Emerging social genetics research suggests one’s genes may influence not just one’s own outcomes but also those of close social alters. Health implications, particularly in late life, remain underexplored. Using combined genetic and survey data, this study examined such transpersonal genetic associations among older U.S. couples. Method Data were from married or cohabiting couples in the 2006–2016 waves of the Health and Retirement Study, nationally representative of U.S. adults over 50. Measures included a polygenic score for educational attainment, and self-rated health. Analysis was through parallel process latent growth models. Results Women’s and men’s genetic scores for education had transpersonal linkages with their partner’s health. Such associations were solely with life-course variations and not late-life change in outcomes. Moreover, they were indirect, mediated by educational attainment itself. Evidence also emerged for individual-level genetic effects mediated by the partner’s education. Discussion In addition to the subject-specific linkages emphasized in extant genetics literature, relational contexts involve multiple transpersonal genetic associations. These appear to have consequences for a partner’s and one’s own health. Life-course theory indicates that a person is never not embedded in such contexts, suggesting that these patterns may be widespread. Research is needed on their implications for the life-course and gene–environment correlation literature.

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Intrapair Comparison of Life-Course Appetite and Physical Activity in Elderly Danish Twins: Reliability and Association With Subsequent Survival

Twin Research and Human Genetics ◽

10.1017/thg.2016.56 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 19 (5) ◽

pp. 447-455 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Laura E. Løkkegaard ◽

Lisbeth A. Larsen ◽

Kaare Christensen

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Life Course ◽

Healthy Aging ◽

Positive Association ◽

Late Life ◽

Lifestyle Factors ◽

Physically Active ◽

Individual Level ◽

The Individual ◽

The Life Course

Avoiding overeating and being physically active is associated with healthy aging, but methodological issues challenge the quantification of the association. Intrapair comparison of twins is a study design that attempts to minimize social norm-driven biased self-reporting of lifestyle factors. We aimed to investigate the association between self-reported lifestyle factors and subsequent survival in 347 Danish twin pairs aged 70 years and older and, additionally, to investigate the reliability of these self-reports. The twins were interviewed in 2003 and followed for mortality until 2015. They were asked to compare their appetite and physical activity to that of their co-twins in different stages of life. On an individual level, we found a positive association between current self-reported physical activity and late-life survival for elderly twins. This was supported by the intrapair analyses, which revealed a positive association between midlife and current physical activity and late-life survival. A positive association between lower appetite and late-life survival was found generally over the life course in the individual level analyses but not in the intrapair analyses. Kappa values for the inter-twin agreement on who ate the most were 0.16 to 0.34 in different life stages, and for physical activity 0.19 to 0.26, corresponding to a slight-to-fair agreement. Approximately, 50% of the twin pairs were not in agreement regarding physical activity, and of these twins 75% (95% CI: 67–82%) considered themselves the most active twin. These findings indicate a still-existing tendency of answering according to social norms, even in a twin study designed to minimize this.

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Body size throughout the life-course and incident benign prostatic hyperplasia-related outcomes and nocturia

BMC Urology ◽

10.1186/s12894-021-00816-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Saira Khan ◽

K. Y. Wolin ◽

R. Pakpahan ◽

R. L. Grubb ◽

G. A. Colditz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Body Size ◽

Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia ◽

Life Course ◽

Early Life ◽

Prostate Volume ◽

Late Life ◽

Later Life ◽

Normal Weight ◽

Prostatic Hyperplasia ◽

The Life Course

Abstract Background Existing evidence suggests that there is an association between body size and prevalent Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH)-related outcomes and nocturia. However, there is limited evidence on the association between body size throughout the life-course and incident BPH-related outcomes. Methods Our study population consisted of men without histories of prostate cancer, BPH-related outcomes, or nocturia in the intervention arm of the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (PLCO) (n = 4710). Associations for body size in early- (age 20), mid- (age 50) and late-life (age ≥ 55, mean age 60.7 years) and weight change with incident BPH-related outcomes (including self-reported nocturia and physician diagnosis of BPH, digital rectal examination-estimated prostate volume ≥ 30 cc, and prostate-specific antigen [PSA] concentration > 1.4 ng/mL) were examined using Poisson regression with robust variance estimation. Results Men who were obese in late-life were 25% more likely to report nocturia (Relative Risk (RR): 1.25, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.11–1.40; p-trendfor continuous BMI < 0.0001) and men who were either overweight or obese in late-life were more likely to report a prostate volume ≥ 30 cc (RRoverweight: 1.13, 95% CI 1.07–1.21; RRobese: 1.10, 95% CI 1.02–1.19; p-trendfor continuous BMI = 0.017) as compared to normal weight men. Obesity at ages 20 and 50 was similarly associated with both nocturia and prostate volume ≥ 30 cc. Considering trajectories of body size, men who were normal weight at age 20 and became overweight or obese by later-life had increased risks of nocturia (RRnormal to overweight: 1.09, 95% CI 0.98–1.22; RRnormal to obese: 1.28, 95% CI 1.10–1.47) and a prostate volume ≥ 30 cc (RRnormal to overweight: 1.12, 95% CI 1.05–1.20). Too few men were obese early in life to examine the independent effect of early-life body size. Later-life body size modified the association between physical activity and nocturia. Conclusions We found that later-life body size, independent of early-life body size, was associated with adverse BPH outcomes, suggesting that interventions to reduce body size even late in life can potentially reduce the burden of BPH-related outcomes and nocturia.

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Abstract 031: Socioeconomic Trajectories Across the Life Course and Risk of All-cause and Cardiovascular Mortality: Prospective Findings From the Moli-sani Study

Circulation ◽

10.1161/circ.137.suppl_1.031 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 137 (suppl_1) ◽

Author(s):

Marialaura Bonaccio ◽

Augusto Di Castelnuovo ◽

Simona Costanzo ◽

Mariarosaria Persichillo ◽

Chiara Cerletti ◽

...

Keyword(s):

General Population ◽

Educational Attainment ◽

Life Course ◽

Lower Risk ◽

Cox Regression ◽

Low Ses ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Higher Educational ◽

Higher Educational Attainment ◽

The Life Course

Introduction: A life course approach has been suggested as the most appropriated to establish the actual impact of socioeconomic status (SES) on health outcomes. Hypothesis: We assessed the hypothesis that SES trajectories from childhood to adulthood are useful to better evaluate the role of SES towards mortality risk in a large general population-based cohort. Methods: Longitudinal analysis on 22,194 subjects recruited in the general population of the Moli-sani study, Italy (2005-2010). Educational attainment (low/high) and SES in adulthood (measured by a score including occupational social class, housing and overcrowding, and dichotomized as low/high) were used to define four possible trajectories both in low and high SES in childhood (age of 8). Hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) were calculated by multivariable Cox regression and competing risk models. Results: Over a median follow-up of 8.3 years (182,924 person-years), 1155 all-cause, of which 414 cardiovascular (CVD), deaths were ascertained. In the group with low SES in childhood, as opposed to those stably low (low education and low SES in adulthood), an upward in both educational attainment and material factors in adulthood was associated with lower risk of both all-cause (HR=0.64; 95%CI 0.52-0.79; Table) and CVD mortality (HR=0.62; 0.43-0.88), respectively. Subjects with high childhood SES experienced an increased risk of total and CVD death in absence of higher educational attainment despite a higher SES in adulthood (HR=1.47; 1.04-2.07 and HR=1.75;1.00-3.05, respectively) as compared to the group with both high education and high SES in adulthood. Conclusions: In conclusion, for individuals with low SES in childhood, an upward of both educational attainment and material factors over the life course is associated with lower risk of total and CVD death. In advantaged groups in childhood, lack of a higher educational attainment, rather than material factors, over the life course appears to be unfavourably associated with survival.

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FRAILTY AND PRECARITY: UNTANGLING THE CONCEPTUAL PATHWAYS OF NEED AND DISADVANTAGE IN LATE LIFE

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igz038.2185 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. S589-S589

Author(s):

Amanda M Grenier

Keyword(s):

Life Course ◽

Scoping Review ◽

Late Life ◽

The State ◽

Social Gerontology ◽

Similarities And Differences ◽

Key Aspects ◽

The Life Course

Abstract The concepts of frailty and precarity circulate in social gerontology and studies of aging, with the former a dominant construct, and the latter emerging as a way of linking experiences, insecurities and risks. Although these concepts are used inter-changeably by some authors, their roots, key areas of focus and meanings differ. This paper considers the state of knowledge on frailty, and sets this against the uses of precarity. A After outlining a recent scoping review on precarity that revealed a high number of articles cross-referencing concepts of frailty and vulnerability. the paper distinguishes key aspects of frailty, vulnerability, and precarity. Situating qualitative experiences of each serves as a means to further explore similarities and differences. The paper concludes with reflections on what (if anything) each of these allied concepts may offer understandings of late life, and in particular, the study of disadvantage across the life course and into late life.

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New Issues in Life Course Research: Which Early-Life Factors Matter for Late-Life Outcomes?

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igab046.101 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 28-28

Author(s):

Jacqui Smith ◽

Katrina Walsemann

Keyword(s):

Life Course ◽

Cognitive Aging ◽

Early Adulthood ◽

Late Life ◽

Work And Family ◽

Poor Health ◽

Relative Role ◽

Life Outcomes ◽

Social Adversity ◽

The Life Course

Abstract The increased availability of retrospective information about the lives of participants in population panel studies has expanded the range of precursors to include in life course research. However, this also challenges researchers to select among many potential precursors to a late-life outcome and to determine the relative role of factors from different periods in the life course. Each paper in this symposium uses life course information from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to examine different late-life outcomes. Speakers will discuss what guided the particular selection of factors and outcome to examine in their study. Sonnega, Helppie-McFall, and Lee focus on indicators of childhood financial and social adversity as potential predictors of early retirement due to poor health. Park, Larkina, and Smith ask if decisions taken in early adulthood about how to balance work-and family-life by individuals and their partners are related to the categories of important life accomplishments older adults report in their life review. Two papers examine precursors of late-life health outcomes. Williams-Farrelly and Smith identified different profiles of physical activity in early- and mid-adulthood. They discuss associations between these profiles and cognitive aging. Whereas social losses, relocation, and multimorbidity are well-documented precursors of Major Depression in old age, Bergmans and Smith asked if poor health in childhood played a distal role. The session concludes with an integrative discussion of issues by Walsemann.

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Leveraging Free Public Use Data for Aging and Life Course Research

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igab046.1921 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 500-500

Author(s):

Phyllis Moen ◽

Kathleen Cagney

Keyword(s):

Life Course ◽

Survey Data ◽

Socioeconomic Conditions ◽

Aging Research ◽

Data Intensive ◽

Economics Of Aging ◽

Common Thread ◽

Nationally Representative ◽

The Life Course ◽

The University

Abstract This symposium will showcase life course and aging research that is possible using freely available integrated census and survey data available via IPUMS. This session is organized by the Network for Data-Intensive Research on Aging (NDIRA) initiative at the University of Minnesota’s Life Course Center. NDIRA seeks to build and support an interdisciplinary community of scientists leveraging powerful data resources in innovative ways to understand health outcomes at older ages, as well as the demography and economics of aging. The session features papers that illustrate how to examine aging-related topics including health at older ages, work and socioeconomic conditions, and living conditions with a common thread of examining heterogeneity within groups. These papers all leverage freely available census and nationally-representative survey data, highlighting the potential value of these data for studying aging and the life course. By combining papers on an array of topics from a variety of data sources, this symposium highlights exemplar papers that demonstrate the types of novel research possible using public use census and survey data that NDIRA seeks to foster.

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PRECARITY AND LATER LIFE: UNDERSTANDING NEW INEQUALITIES AND RISKS IN LATER LIFE

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igz038.2181 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. S588-S588

Author(s):

Dale Dannefer ◽

Christopher Phillipson ◽

Dale Dannefer

Keyword(s):

Older People ◽

Life Course ◽

Social Dynamics ◽

Later Life ◽

Academic Disciplines ◽

Potential Contribution ◽

Term Care ◽

Economic Changes ◽

Individual Level ◽

The Life Course

Abstract This symposium addresses debates around the theme of precarity and its implications for understanding social and economic changes affecting the lives of older people. To date, the concept of precarity has been applied to several subpopulations by various academic disciplines but has yet to be systematically applied to later life. The symposium will give particular attention to the extent to which the lens provided by precarity can illuminate different types of inequalities experienced through the life course and reflected in public policies directed at older people. Chris Phillipson reviews theoretical perspectives relating to precarity, examining their potential contribution for the development of critical gerontology. His paper also considers the extent to which the concept of ‘precarious ageing’ offers a competing or complementary view to theories of ‘active’ and ‘successful ageing’. Larry Polivka examines the growing precarity of life for older Americans emanating from austerity budgets and privatization of public services. The paper suggests that policies such as health care and long term care are in jeopardy, creating a glide path toward the extension of precarious employment into a precarious retirement for millions of older people. Wenxuan Huang examines how the focus on agency and other individual-level foci obscure understanding of social dynamics. Finally, Amanda Grenier draws on a scoping review of precarity to outline conceptual distinctions between frailty, vulnerability, and precarity. She presents reflections on what these concepts offer in terms of understandings of late life the study of disadvantage across the life course.

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AGENCY AS IDEOLOGY: PRECARITY AND DISEMBEDDEDNESS IN THE 21ST CENTURY LIFE COURSE

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igz038.2184 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. S589-S589

Author(s):

wenxuan huang

Keyword(s):

Life Course ◽

Transition To Adulthood ◽

Social Institutions ◽

Historical Time ◽

Cultural Traditions ◽

Individual Level ◽

Individual Agency ◽

Transition Research ◽

The Individual ◽

The Life Course

Abstract The “individualization” thesis has gradually merged into the discussion of increasing heterogeneity of the life course as well as growing inequality over historical time. As individuals are “disembedded” from both cultural traditions and more recently social institutions, individual agency has drawn revived interest in outlining “choice biography” that is seen as paramount to personal outcomes and even containing overcoming force against structure. This practice mutes the consideration of the ongoing forces of social structure that by their very nature continue to constitute individual selves and possibilities. The uncritical treatment of individual agency makes it problematic for the study of precarity, mystifying and obscuring the analysis of inequality-generating mechanisms, reducing them to the individual-level. We analyze current uses of the concept of agency in the life course research, and particularly in the areas of transition research, e.g., transition to adulthood/retirement, where individual agency is assumed to be most active.

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Exposure to continuous or fluid theories of sexual orientation leads some heterosexuals to embrace less-exclusive heterosexual orientations

10.31234/osf.io/gj3w7 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ilan Dar-Nimrod ◽

James Morandini ◽

Liam Dacosta

Keyword(s):

Sexual Orientation ◽

University Students ◽

Life Course ◽

Sexual Experiences ◽

Same Sex ◽

Nationally Representative ◽

The Life Course ◽

Political Alignment

We examined whether heterosexual individuals’ self-reported sexual orientation could be influenced experimentally by manipulating their knowledge of the nature of sexual orientation. In Study 1 (180 university students, 66% female) participants read summaries describing evidence for sexual orientation existing on a continuum versus discrete categories or a control manipulation, and in Study 2 (460 participants in a nationally representative Qualtrics panel, 50% female) additionally read summaries describing sexual orientation as fluid versus stable across the life-course. After reading summaries, participants answered various questions about their sexual orientation. In Study 1, political moderates and progressives (but not conservatives) who read the continuous manipulation subsequently reported being less exclusively heterosexual, and regardless of political alignment, participants reported more uncertainty about their sexual orientation, relative to controls. In Study 2, after exposure to fluid or continuous manipulations heterosexual participants were up to five times more likely than controls to rate themselves as non-exclusively heterosexual. Additionally, those in the continuous condition reported more uncertainty about their sexual orientation and were more willing to engage in future same-sex sexual experiences, than those in the control condition. These results suggest that non-traditional theories of sexual orientation can lead heterosexuals to embrace less exclusive heterosexual orientations.

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Life-course BMI and biomarkers in persons aged 60 years or older: a comparison of the USA and Costa Rica

Public Health Nutrition ◽

10.1017/s1368980018002276 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 22 (2) ◽

pp. 314-323

Author(s):

David H Rehkopf ◽

Andrew Duong ◽

William H Dow ◽

Luis Rosero-Bixby

Keyword(s):

Cardiovascular Risk ◽

Costa Rica ◽

Life Course ◽

Hdl Cholesterol ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

The Usa ◽

Nationally Representative ◽

Risk Biomarkers ◽

The Life Course

AbstractObjectiveThere is a large literature linking current BMI to levels of cardiovascular risk biomarkers, but it is unknown whether measures of BMI earlier in the life course and maximum BMI are predictive of current levels of biomarkers. The objective of the current study was to determine how current, maximum and age-25 BMI among individuals over the age of 60 years are associated with their current levels of cardiovascular risk biomarkers.DesignCross-sectional study with retrospective recall.SettingCosta Rica (n 821) and the USA (n 4110).SubjectsNationally representative samples of adults aged 60 years or over.ResultsWe used regression models to examine the relationship between multiple meaures of BMI with four established cardiovascular risk biomarkers. The most consistent predictor of current levels of systolic blood pressure, TAG and HDL-cholesterol was current BMI. However, maximum BMI was the strongest predictor of glycosylated Hb (HbA1c) and was also related to HDL-cholesterol and TAG. HbA1c was independent of current BMI. We found that these relationships are consistent between Costa Rica and the USA for HbA1c and for HDL-cholesterol.ConclusionsCurrent levels of cardiovascular risk biomarkers are not only the product of current levels of BMI, but also of maximum lifetime BMI, particularly for levels of HbA1c and for HDL-cholesterol. Managing maximum obtained BMI over the life course may be most critical for maintaining the healthiest levels of cardiovascular risk.

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