scholarly journals Birth outcomes and early-life social characteristics predict unequal educational outcomes across the life course and across generations

2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
BMC Urology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saira Khan ◽  
K. Y. Wolin ◽  
R. Pakpahan ◽  
R. L. Grubb ◽  
G. A. Colditz ◽  
...  

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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-180
Author(s):  
Matthew H. Iveson ◽  
Chris Dibben ◽  
Ian J. Deary

Older adults are particularly prone to function-limiting health issues that adversely affect their well-being. Previous work has identified factors from across the life course –childhood socio-economic status, childhood cognitive ability and education – that predict later-life functional outcomes. However, the independence of these contributions is unclear as later-in-the-life-course predictors are themselves affected by earlier ones. The present study capitalised on the recent linkage of the Scottish Mental Survey 1947 with the Scottish Longitudinal Study, using path analyses to examine the direct and indirect associations between life-course predictors and the risk of functional limitation at ages 55 (N = 2,374), 65 (N = 1,971) and 75 (N = 1,534). The odds of reporting a function-limiting long-term condition increased across later life. At age 55, reporting a functional limitation was significantly less likely in those with higher childhood socio-economic status, higher childhood cognitive ability and higher educational attainment; these associations were only partly mediated by other predictors. At age 65, adult socio-economic status emerged as a mediator of several associations, although direct associations with childhood socio-economic status and childhood cognitive ability were still observed. At age 75, only childhood socio-economic status and adult socio-economic status directly predicted the risk of a functional limitation, particularly those associated with disease or illness. A consistent pattern and direction of associations was observed with self-rated health more generally. These results demonstrate that early-life and adult circumstances are associated with functional limitations later in life, but that these associations are partly a product of complex mediation between life-course factors.


2020 ◽  
pp. 215686932091653
Author(s):  
Melissa Thompson ◽  
Lindsey Wilkinson ◽  
Hyeyoung Woo

Although originally considered to be a disorder of childhood, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is increasingly being diagnosed for the first time in adulthood. Yet we know little about the social characteristics (race, gender, and social class) of those first labeled in adulthood, how these differ from those first labeled in childhood/adolescence, and whether the ADHD label is applied proportionately across social groups given ADHD symptomology. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, the current research considers how typifications of ADHD affect application of the ADHD label in childhood/adolescence and in adulthood. Results indicate that even after controlling for ADHD symptoms, social characteristics are important predictors of the ADHD label in childhood/adolescence but are less influential in predicting ADHD labeling in adulthood. Additionally, results indicate the importance of race in moderating the association between childhood ADHD symptoms and application of the ADHD label throughout the life course.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 3
Author(s):  
Myra De Vries ◽  
Maartje Weerdesteijn

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florencia Torche

The idea that early-life circumstances shape people’s health, development, and well-being over the life course has gained renewed centrality in the last two decades. This renewed interest has been informed by new approaches that emphasize sensitive and critical periods during the first years of life, offer an understanding of human development as a hierarchical and cross-fertilizing process, suggest plausible mechanisms for the persistent effect of early exposures, and explore heterogeneity in effects based on environmental and biological factors. The articles included in this special issue of Population Research and Policy Review advance the field of early-life circumstances in several important dimensions. They examine the determinants and effects of noxious exposures at different developmental stages—ranging from the prenatal period to adolescence—in a variety of national settings. They offer an understanding of early-life circumstances that moves from discrete outcomes to a dynamic life-course approach, and consider diverse sources of heterogeneity in the effects of early exposures.


2013 ◽  
Vol 54 (8) ◽  
pp. e28
Author(s):  
Jutta Lindert ◽  
Ondine von Ehrenstein ◽  
Marc Weisskopf

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 574-574
Author(s):  
Joseph Saenz

Abstract BACKGROUND: Research has consistently suggested urban dwelling in late adulthood is associated with better cognitive ability. Whether early life rural/urban dwelling and its interaction with late-life rural/urban dwelling relate with late-life cognitive ability in the context of Mexico is not well understood. METHOD: Data comes from the 2003 Mexican Health and Aging Study. Early life rural/urban was assessed as respondents’ reports of growing up in an urban/rural area. Current rural/urban was assessed by locality size (greater/fewer than 100,000 residents). RESULTS: Both early life and current rural residence were associated with poorer cognitive ability independent of education, literacy, early life SES and health, income/wealth, healthcare access, health, and health behaviors. Compared to individuals who always lived in rural areas, rural to urban migration was associated with better cognitive ability. DISCUSSION: In addition to current rural/urban dwelling, researchers should consider where individuals lived in early life and migration across the life-course.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (10) ◽  
pp. e0256967
Author(s):  
Kandauda A. S. Wickrama ◽  
Catherine Walker OˋNeal ◽  
Tae Kyoung Lee ◽  
Seonhwa Lee

The present study investigated an integrated life course model, drawn from the life course theoretical perspective, to elucidate youth’s additive, cascading, and cumulative life course processes stemming from early socioeconomic adversity and education polygenic score (education PGS) as well as potential interactions between them (GxE), which contribute to subsequent young adult socioeconomic outcomes. Additionally, the independent, varying associations among social and genetic predictors, life-stage specific educational outcomes (educational achievement in adolescence and educational attainment, in later stages), and young adult economic outcomes were examined. The study used prospective, longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent and Adult Health (Add Health) with a sample of 5,728 youth of European ancestry. Early family socioeconomic adversity and individual education PGS were associated with life stage-specific educational outcomes through additive and cascading processes linked to young adults’ economic outcomes (personal earnings) through a cumulative process. A GxE moderation existed between individuals’ education PGS and early socioeconomic adversity at multiple life stages, explaining variation in adolescent educational outcomes. Both early socioeconomic adversity and education PGS were persistently associated with youth’s educational and economic outcomes throughout the early life course. In sum, the findings based on the integrated life course model showed how additive, cascading, and cumulative processes were related and conditioned one another, generating specific life course patterns and outcomes. The findings highlight the value of incorporating molecular genetic information into longitudinal developmental life course research and provide insight into malleable characteristics and appropriate timing for interventions addressing youth developmental characteristics.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document