Major Discrimination Experiences, Education, and Genes

Objectives: Rather than acting as a buffer, educational attainment has a known positive linkage with major experiences of lifetime discrimination. Recently established genetic roots of education, then, may also influence such reports. The current study examined these patterns. Methods: Data were from the 2010 wave of the Health and Retirement Study. Polygenic scores indexed one’s genetic propensity for more education. Mediation analysis was through counterfactual methods. Results: Among Whites as well as Blacks, genetic antecedents of education also elevated discrimination reports. Part of this influence was channeled through education. At least among Whites, direct effects were also found. Discussion: Major discrimination experiences seem partly rooted in genes. Mechanisms are tentatively suggested. Direct genetic influences, in particular, indicate potential confounding of previously estimated linkages between discrimination and health or life course factors. Given the range of these prior results, and their implications for healthy aging, investigation of these possibilities is needed.

Download Full-text

A life course approach to total tooth loss: Testing the sensitive period, accumulation, and social mobility models in the Health and Retirement Study

Community Dentistry And Oral Epidemiology ◽

10.1111/cdoe.12463 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 47 (4) ◽

pp. 333-339 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Haena Lee

Keyword(s):

Life Course ◽

Social Mobility ◽

Tooth Loss ◽

Sensitive Period ◽

Health And Retirement Study ◽

Mobility Models ◽

Life Course Approach ◽

Retirement Study

Download Full-text

Polygenic Scores for Smoking and Educational Attainment have Independent Influences on Academic Success and Adjustment in Adolescence and Educational Attainment in Adulthood

10.31234/osf.io/mueqg ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Brian M. Hicks ◽

D. Angus Clark ◽

Joseph D. Deak ◽

Jonathan Schaefer ◽

Mengzhen Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Academic Success ◽

Educational Attainment ◽

Academic Motivation ◽

Academic Adjustment ◽

Genetic Influences ◽

Behavioral Disinhibition ◽

Discipline Problems ◽

Academic Variables ◽

Polygenic Scores

Educational success is associated with greater quality of life and depends, in part, on heritable cognitive and non-cognitive traits. We used polygenic scores (PGS) for smoking—a measure of genetic influences on behavioral disinhibition—and educational attainment to examine different genetic influences on facets of academic adjustment in adolescence and educational attainment in adulthood. PGSs were calculated for participants of the Minnesota Twin Family Study (N = 3225) and included as predictors of grades, academic motivation, and discipline problems at ages 11, 14, and 17 years-old and educational attainment at age 29. Smoking and educational attainment PGSs had significant incremental associations with each academic variable. About half of the adjusted effects of the smoking and educational PGSs on educational attainment at age 29 were mediated by the academic variables in adolescence. Distinct genetic influences related to behavioral disinhibition and educational attainment contribute to academic adjustment in adolescence and educational attainment in adulthood.

Download Full-text

Genetic heterogeneity in depressive symptoms following the death of a spouse: Polygenic score analysis of the US Health and Retirement Study

10.1101/065847 ◽

2016 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Benjamin W. Domingue ◽

Hexuan Liu ◽

Aysu Okbay ◽

Daniel W. Belsky

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Life Stress ◽

Genome Wide Association Study ◽

The United States ◽

Health And Retirement Study ◽

Polygenic Score ◽

Polygenic Scores ◽

Retirement Study

AbstractExperience of stressful life events is associated with risk of depression. Yet many exposed individuals do not become depressed. A controversial hypothesis is that genetic factors influence vulnerability to depression following stress. This hypothesis is most commonly tested with a “diathesis-stress” model, in which genes confer excess vulnerability. We tested an alternative model, in which genes may buffer against the depressogenic effects of life stress. We measured the hypothesized genetic buffer using a polygenic score derived from a published genome-wide association study (GWAS) of subjective wellbeing. We tested if married older adults who had higher polygenic scores were less vulnerable to depressive symptoms following the death of their spouse as compared to age-peers who had also lost their spouse and who had lower polygenic scores. We analyzed data from N=9,453 non-Hispanic white adults in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a population-representative longitudinal study of older adults in the United States. HRS adults with higher wellbeing polygenic scores experienced fewer depressive symptoms during follow-up. Those who survived death of their spouses during follow-up (n=1,829) experienced a sharp increase in depressive symptoms following the death and returned toward baseline over the following two years. Having a higher polygenic score buffered against increased depressive symptoms following a spouse's death. Effects were small and clinical relevance is uncertain, although polygenic score analyses may provide clues to behavioral pathways that can serve as therapeutic targets. Future studies of gene-environment interplay in depression may benefit from focus on genetics discovered for putative protective factors.

Download Full-text

Do Life Course Physical Activity Profiles Reduce the Effects of Childhood Exposures on Cognition?

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igab046.104 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 29-29

Author(s):

Monica Williams-Farrelly ◽

Jacqui Smith

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Life Course ◽

Healthy Aging ◽

Latent Class ◽

Mail Survey ◽

Learning Problems ◽

Average Reference ◽

Curve Modeling ◽

The Relationship ◽

Retirement Study

Abstract Although physical activity throughout life is one of the most reliable predictors of healthy aging, can less consistent or favorable trajectories also improve cognition trajectories among older adults? Drawing from accumulation theories, we use longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study and Life History Mail Survey (N=9,309) to examine the early antecedents of cognitive decline and the extent to which different life course physical activity profiles can slow such a decline. Results from latent class analysis reveal seven distinct profiles: consistently low, consistently high, consistently average (reference), improvers, decliners, midlife motivators, and previously athletic “couch potatoes.” Growth curve modeling analyses show that membership in the consistently high class and midlife motivators were associated with better cognition initially and over time, with no difference between the two classes. Additionally, though poor health and learning problems in childhood were associated with worse initial cognition, physical activity does not mediate the relationship.

Download Full-text

Associations of Loneliness and Social Isolation with Healthspan and Lifespan in the US Health and Retirement Study

10.1101/2020.07.10.20147488 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Christopher L Crowe ◽

Benjamin W Domingue ◽

Gloria Hu ◽

Katherine M Keyes ◽

Dayoon Kwon ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Social Isolation ◽

Healthy Aging ◽

National Sample ◽

Biological Aging ◽

Health And Retirement Study ◽

Increased Risk ◽

The Us ◽

Retirement Study

Background. Loneliness and social isolation are emerging public health challenges for aging populations. Methods. We followed N=11,305 US Health and Retirement Study (HRS) participants aged 50-95 from 2006-2014 to measure persistence of exposure to loneliness and social isolation. We tested associations of longitudinal loneliness and social-isolation phenotypes with disability, morbidity, mortality, and biological aging through 2018. Results. During follow-up, 18% of older adults met criteria for loneliness and, for 6%, symptoms persisted across two or more follow-up assessments. For social isolation, these fractions were 21% and 8%. HRS participants who experienced loneliness and social isolation were at increased risk for disease, disability, and mortality. Older adults experiencing persistent loneliness were at a 59% increased hazard of mortality compared to those who were never lonely. For social isolation, the increase was 28%. Effect-sizes were somewhat larger for counts of prevalent activity limitations and somewhat smaller for counts of prevalent chronic diseases. Covariate adjustment for socioeconomic and psychological risks attenuated but did not fully explain associations. Older adults who experienced loneliness and social isolation also exhibited physiological indications of advanced biological aging (Cohen's-d for persistent loneliness and social isolation=0.26 and 0.21, respectively). For loneliness, but not social isolation, persistence of symptoms was associated with increased risk. Conclusion. Deficits in social connectedness prevalent in a national sample of older adults in the US were associated with morbidity, disability, and mortality and with more advanced biological aging. Bolstering social connection to interrupt experiences of loneliness may promote healthy aging.

Download Full-text

Coronary Heart Disease From a Life-Course Approach: Findings From the Health and Retirement Study, 1998-2004

Journal of Aging and Health ◽

10.1177/0898264309355981 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 22 (2) ◽

pp. 219-241 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Mary Elizabeth Bowen

Keyword(s):

Coronary Heart Disease ◽

Heart Disease ◽

Life Course ◽

Health And Retirement Study ◽

Life Course Approach ◽

Retirement Study

Download Full-text

Associations of genetics, behaviors, and life course circumstances with a novel aging and healthspan measure: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study

PLoS Medicine ◽

10.1371/journal.pmed.1002827 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (6) ◽

pp. e1002827 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Zuyun Liu ◽

Xi Chen ◽

Thomas M. Gill ◽

Chao Ma ◽

Eileen M. Crimmins ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life Course ◽

Health And Retirement Study ◽

Retirement Study

Download Full-text

Immune Response to Cytomegalovirus and Cognition in the Health and Retirement Study

American Journal of Epidemiology ◽

10.1093/aje/kwaa238 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Rebecca C Stebbins ◽

Grace A Noppert ◽

Yang Claire Yang ◽

Jennifer B Dowd ◽

Amanda Simanek ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Immune Response ◽

Cognitive Function ◽

Educational Attainment ◽

Small Samples ◽

Health And Retirement Study ◽

Linear Regression Models ◽

Igg Antibody ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

The Relationship ◽

Retirement Study

Abstract Chronic infections and the subsequent immune response have recently been shown to be risk factors for cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s Disease and related disorders (ADRD). While some studies have shown an association between cytomegalovirus (CMV), a chronic and highly prevalent infection, and cognition and/or ADRD, these are limited by non-representative and small samples. Using data from 5,617 adults aged 65 years and older from the 2016 Health and Retirement Study, we investigated the cross-sectional association between both CMV serostatus and IgG antibody response and cognitive function using linear regression models adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, and educational attainment. We further investigated potential effect measure modification by educational attainment. Overall, both CMV seropositivity and higher IgG were associated with lower cognitive function, though the relationship was not statistically significant in adjusted models. Among those with less than a high school diploma, CMV seropositivity and being in the first tertile of IgG response relative to seronegatives were associated with lower TICS score (-0.56 (95%CI: -1.63, 0.52) and -0.89 (95%CI: -2.07, 0.29), respectively), and the relationship was attenuated among those with higher education. Our results suggest that CMV may be a risk factor for cognitive impairment, particularly among those with low educational resources.

Download Full-text

Comparison of Adopted and Nonadopted Individuals Reveals Gene–Environment Interplay for Education in the UK Biobank

Psychological Science ◽

10.1177/0956797620904450 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 31 (5) ◽

pp. 582-591 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Rosa Cheesman ◽

Avina Hunjan ◽

Jonathan R. I. Coleman ◽

Yasmin Ahmadzadeh ◽

Robert Plomin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Educational Attainment ◽

Home Environment ◽

Family Environment ◽

Adoptive Parents ◽

Genetic Influences ◽

Uk Biobank ◽

Gene Environment ◽

Polygenic Scores ◽

The Family ◽

The Uk

Polygenic scores now explain approximately 10% of the variation in educational attainment. However, they capture not only genetic propensity but also information about the family environment. This is because of passive gene–environment correlation, whereby the correlation between offspring and parent genotypes results in an association between offspring genotypes and the rearing environment. We measured passive gene–environment correlation using information on 6,311 adoptees in the UK Biobank. Adoptees’ genotypes were less correlated with their rearing environments because they did not share genes with their adoptive parents. We found that polygenic scores were twice as predictive of years of education in nonadopted individuals compared with adoptees ( R2s = .074 vs. .037, p = 8.23 × 10−24). Individuals in the lowest decile of polygenic scores for education attained significantly more education if they were adopted, possibly because of educationally supportive adoptive environments. Overall, these results suggest that genetic influences on education are mediated via the home environment.

Download Full-text