A Community Cohort Study About Childhood Social and Economic Circumstances: Racial/ethnic Differences and Associations with Educational Attainment and Health of Older Adults

Overview

Journal BMJ Open

Specialty General Medicine

Date 2013 Apr 9

PMID 23562813

Citations 2

Authors

Irene H Yen

Steven Gregorich

Alison K Cohen

Anita Stewart

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objectives: Typical measures of childhood socioeconomic status (SES), such as father's occupation, have limited the ability to elucidate mechanisms by which childhood SES affects adult health. Mechanisms could include schooling experiences or work opportunities. Having previously used qualitative methods for concept development, we developed new retrospective measures of multiple domains of childhood social and economic circumstances in ethnically diverse older adults. We administered the new measures in a large sample and explored their association with adult SES.

Design: We used a cross-sectional survey design with a community sample.

Setting: The San Francisco Bay Area in California.

Participants: 400 community-dwelling adults from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds (Whites, African Americans, Latinos and Asians/Pacific Islanders) aged 55 and older (mean=67 years); 61% were women.

Primary And Secondary Outcome Measures: We measured attitudes towards schooling, extracurricular activities and adult encouragement and discouragement during the childhood/teen years. Bivariate analysis tested racial/ethnic differences on the various measures. Multivariate regression models estimated the extent to which retrospective circumstances were independently associated with adult educational attainment and adult health.

Results: Most of the childhood circumstances measures differed across racial/ethnic groups. In general, Whites reported more positive circumstances than non-Whites. Family financial circumstances, respondent's perception of schooling as a means to get ahead, high school extracurricular activities, summer travel and summer reading were each statistically significantly associated with adult SES. Family composition, age began work, high school extracurricular activities, attitudes towards schooling and adult discouragement were associated with adult health.

Citing Articles

Socioeconomic Mediators of Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Congenital Heart Disease Outcomes: A Population-Based Study in California.

Peyvandi S, Baer R, Moon-Grady A, Oltman S, Chambers C, Norton M J Am Heart Assoc. 2018; 7(20):e010342.

PMID: 30371284 PMC: 6474947. DOI: 10.1161/JAHA.118.010342.

Ethnic differentials in under-five mortality in Nigeria.

Adedini S, Odimegwu C, Imasiku E, Ononokpono D Ethn Health. 2014; 20(2):145-62.

PMID: 24593689 PMC: 4337727. DOI: 10.1080/13557858.2014.890599.

References

Haas S, Rohlfsen L . Life course determinants of racial and ethnic disparities in functional health trajectories. Soc Sci Med. 2009; 70(2):240-50. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.10.003. View

Perel P, Langenberg C, Ferrie J, Moser K, Brunner E, Marmot M . Household wealth and the metabolic syndrome in the Whitehall II study. Diabetes Care. 2006; 29(12):2694-700. DOI: 10.2337/dc06-0022. View

Smith G, McCarron P, Okasha M, McEwen J . Social circumstances in childhood and cardiovascular disease mortality: prospective observational study of Glasgow University students. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2001; 55(5):340-1. PMC: 1731885. DOI: 10.1136/jech.55.5.340. View

Haas S, Krueger P, Rohlfsen L . Race/ethnic and nativity disparities in later life physical performance: the role of health and socioeconomic status over the life course. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2012; 67(2):238-48. PMC: 3410696. DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbr155. View

Ganzach Y . Parents' education, cognitive ability, educational expectations and educational attainment: interactive effects. Br J Educ Psychol. 2000; 70 ( Pt 3):419-41. DOI: 10.1348/000709900158218. View

Turrell G, Lynch J, Kaplan G, Everson S, Helkala E, Kauhanen J . Socioeconomic position across the lifecourse and cognitive function in late middle age. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2002; 57(1):S43-51. DOI: 10.1093/geronb/57.1.s43. View

Yen I, Stewart A, Scherzer T, Perez-Stable E . Older adults' perspectives on key domains of childhood social and economic experiences and opportunities: a first step to creating a multidimensional measure. Epidemiol Perspect Innov. 2007; 4:14. PMC: 2186311. DOI: 10.1186/1742-5573-4-14. View

Naess O, Claussen B, Davey Smith G . Relative impact of childhood and adulthood socioeconomic conditions on cause specific mortality in men. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2004; 58(7):597-8. PMC: 1732830. DOI: 10.1136/jech.2003.012229. View

Meer J, Miller D, Rosen H . Exploring the health-wealth nexus. J Health Econ. 2003; 22(5):713-30. DOI: 10.1016/S0167-6296(03)00059-6. View

10.

Wannamethee S, Whincup P, Shaper G, Walker M . Influence of fathers' social class on cardiovascular disease in middle-aged men. Lancet. 1996; 348(9037):1259-63. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(96)02465-8. View

11.

Beebe-Dimmer J, Lynch J, Turrell G, Lustgarten S, Raghunathan T, Kaplan G . Childhood and adult socioeconomic conditions and 31-year mortality risk in women. Am J Epidemiol. 2004; 159(5):481-90. DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwh057. View

12.

Kittleson M, Meoni L, Wang N, Chu A, Ford D, Klag M . Association of childhood socioeconomic status with subsequent coronary heart disease in physicians. Arch Intern Med. 2006; 166(21):2356-61. DOI: 10.1001/archinte.166.21.2356. View

13.

Claussen B, Davey Smith G, Thelle D . Impact of childhood and adulthood socioeconomic position on cause specific mortality: the Oslo Mortality Study. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2002; 57(1):40-5. PMC: 1732268. DOI: 10.1136/jech.57.1.40. View

14.

Salonen M, Kajantie E, Osmond C, Forsen T, Yliharsila H, Paile-Hyvarinen M . Role of socioeconomic indicators on development of obesity from a life course perspective. J Environ Public Health. 2009; 2009:625168. PMC: 2778550. DOI: 10.1155/2009/625168. View

15.

McHorney C, Haley S, Ware Jr J . Evaluation of the MOS SF-36 Physical Functioning Scale (PF-10): II. Comparison of relative precision using Likert and Rasch scoring methods. J Clin Epidemiol. 1997; 50(4):451-61. DOI: 10.1016/s0895-4356(96)00424-6. View

16.

Kuh D, Hardy R, Langenberg C, Richards M, Wadsworth M . Mortality in adults aged 26-54 years related to socioeconomic conditions in childhood and adulthood: post war birth cohort study. BMJ. 2002; 325(7372):1076-80. PMC: 131184. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.325.7372.1076. View

17.

Melby J, Conger R, Fang S, Wickrama K, Conger K . Adolescent family experiences and educational attainment during early adulthood. Dev Psychol. 2008; 44(6):1519-36. PMC: 2735855. DOI: 10.1037/a0013352. View

18.

Lawlor D, Ebrahim S, Davey Smith G . Socioeconomic position in childhood and adulthood and insulin resistance: cross sectional survey using data from British women's heart and health study. BMJ. 2002; 325(7368):805. PMC: 128946. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.325.7368.805. View

19.

Gliksman M, Kawachi I, Hunter D, Colditz G, Manson J, Stampfer M . Childhood socioeconomic status and risk of cardiovascular disease in middle aged US women: a prospective study. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1995; 49(1):10-5. PMC: 1060067. DOI: 10.1136/jech.49.1.10. View

20.

Galobardes B, Davey Smith G, Lynch J . Systematic review of the influence of childhood socioeconomic circumstances on risk for cardiovascular disease in adulthood. Ann Epidemiol. 2005; 16(2):91-104. DOI: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2005.06.053. View