Biodemography and Social Biology最新文献

Biological age acceleration predicts multiple "diseases of aging." Objective and subjective social statuses have both been prospectively linked to this outcome. An established chain-of-risk framework suggests that "effects" of each may be mediated by one's subsequent structural position. A separate deaths-of-despair literature identifies a person's sense of futility as another potential link. Such chains remain underexplored. The current study used data from three waves (2008-2016) of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to fill these gaps. The analysis was done through a counterfactual regression-with-residuals (RWR) approach. Asimulated decline in a person's objective but not subjective status predicted their age acceleration 8 years later. Contrary to chain-of-risk conceptions, intermediate social standing did not channel effects. Neither did despair. Findings were more consistent with a direct "material shocks" explanation for status-aging linkages than an indirect or psychosocial one. Implications for aging theory and for interventions are discussed.

Evidence shows that there are marked Black-White health disparities in immune function that exist independent of socioeconomic status. Notably, most studies cannot differentiate between viral exposure and viral susceptibility. We overcome this problem with an experimental design and assess racial differences in cold symptom severity and the potential mediating role of depressive-type negative trait affect. We use data from the Pittsburg Cold Study 3, a viral challenge study where healthy participants (n = 200) were all inoculated with a cold virus. We test two hypotheses concerning race, depressive affect, and cold symptom severity using multivariable ordinary least squares regression and a Monte Carlo method for assessing mediation. While there was no significant difference in objective signs of upper respiratory pathology, findings indicate that Black participants reported less severe cold symptoms compared to White participants (p < 0.05). Depressive affect mediated this relationship: Black participants generally reported lower levels of depressive affect than White participants, which in turn was associated with lower perceived severity of their cold symptoms. We found evidence for racial differences in cold symptom severity in ways consistent with the Black-White Mental Health Paradox.

Compared to other environmental stressors, the impact of sun exposure on subjective well-being (SWB) remains inconclusive. This study investigates the effect of sunlight exposure on various SWB measures by matching a nationwide longitudinal survey in China with precise sunshine duration data based on the exact time and location of each interview. Exploiting variations in sunshine exposure experienced by the same individuals over 8 years, we find a positive relationship between sunshine duration on the interview day and life satisfaction, as well as a nonlinear relationship between past-week sunshine duration and depressive symptoms. Although sunshine has a significant effect on SWB, its overall magnitude is relatively small.

China experienced a rapid fertility decline in recent decades. Fertility intention as a strong predictor of actual behavior has attracted much attention. Yet, there is not much literature to analyze Chinese women's fertility intention from a life-course framework. This study attempts to shed light on the relationship between the formation of women's fertility concepts and their growth trajectory and highlights the policy effect on fertility intentions during the policy-shift process. Using data from the China Labor-force Dynamics Survey (CLDS) collected in 2014, 2016 and 2018, I tracked those factors affecting Chinese childbearing-age women's fertility intentions. The changes in women's intentions for a second child and for the ideal number of children were estimated by logistic regressions respectively, and propensity score matching (PSM) was used to test the robustness of results. Adult women's fertility intentions were associated with their childhood family background, and the sibsize effect on their fertility intentions was found to be significantly positive. Compared with socio-economic characteristics, the influence of their self-rated health (SRH) and subjective well-being (SWB) on fertility intention was more prominent. The policy effect on the changes in women's fertility intentions was confirmed. The intergenerational preference from parents to their daughters, or/and the intimate relationship among siblings may contribute to women's intentions for more children.

Objective: Religiosity is a complex construct comprised observance, intrinsic beliefs, meditative practice, and communal elements. Religiosity has been associated with reduced mortality and improved overall health, but understanding the underlying biological associations is evolving. As increased telomere length has been associated with increased longevity, this project presents a systematic review of studies investigating the relationship between religiosity and telomere length.

Design: The study protocol was registered prior to the search. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol was followed. Seven databases were employed using relevant criteria: PubMed, PSYCHinfo, CINAHL, ATLA, Scopus, Sociological Abstracts, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Clinical.

Results: A total of 381 studies were identified and 46 studies met full screening. Eight studies met the final inclusion criteria. Of these eight studies, two showed no relationship between religiosity and telomere length, three showed a positive relationship, and three showed an equivocal or ambivalent relationship. Meta-analysis was not possible due to the heterogeneity of the studies.

Conclusion: Religiosity may be associated with telomere length, but results vary widely across the diverse studies included. Longitudinal studies with adequate sample size are needed to determine this association more rigorously.

Welfare incentives, by providing parents access to certain resources, may increase the reliability of parental investment returns and thus increase opportunities to invest in offspring quality vs. quantity and eventually a drop in fertility. Using the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 6 for Serbian Roma, this study examined whether improvements in resources, driven by cash transfers, encouraged parental greater engagement per child and a drop in fertility. The sample included 1095 Roma couples whereas a couple's number of biological children by number of years married was used as a proxy for fertility. The results imply that Roma parental response to shifts in environmental risk did not result in more parental time and lower birth rate: parental investment was lower in the welfare households, presently associated with a higher birth rate. Roma paternal investment dropped in the presence of stepchildren and rose in the presence of biological children, allowing mothers to divert their attention to reproduction. Cash transfers may compensate for the additional costs of an extra child and maintain fertility. Despite the amounts received, or the assumed improvements brought about, the changes may have not be perceived as sufficient enough to cause a shift in parental behavior and a drop in fertility.

This study examines sex-specific trends in self-rated health and educational attainment in the United States. We also consider how educational improvements shape trends in self-rated health and whether these associations differ by sex. We draw on 1972-2018 General Social Survey data to extend past research through the recent period when American population health has stalled or declined. Our results show that educational attainment increased throughout the nearly 50-year period, whereas trends in self-rated health were non-linear among both men and women. Among women, self-rated health and education increased together from 1972 to around 2000, but self-rated health declined thereafter even as educational attainment continued to rise. Among men, the association between education and self-rated health was less stable than among women. Education increased, but self-rated health fluctuated over time without a clear trend until the early 2000s. Thereafter, men's self-rated health trended downward. Our findings contribute to a growing body of research showing declines in health status among Americans over recent decades.