Longitudinal and Life Course Studies最新文献

Background: Evidence suggests that transitioning to motherhood at a younger age is associated with higher levels of cardiovascular biomarker risk factors later in life. While early-life confounding factors alongside social and behavioural pathways contribute to this association, residual confounding may remain.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between age at first childbirth and later life cardiovascular biomarker risk factors (BMI, android/gynoid fat ratio, blood pressure, lipid profile), and environmental and genetic confounding in female twins.

Participants and setting: Participants were 2,204 mothers from the TwinsUK cohort (549 di-, 553 monozygotic twin pairs) who were 50 years or older and had data on age at first birth, at least one outcome, and selected covariates.

Methods: Generalised estimation equations were used to analyse (1) individual-level crude associations of age at first birth with the outcomes, (2) di- and monozygotic between and within-family estimates, and (3) covariate-adjusted associations.

Results: Individual-level analyses suggest that women with age at first birth <20 years (compared to 25-29 years) had higher mean BMI, android/gynoid fat ratio, and triglyceride levels after age 50. However, confidence intervals were wide. Considering within-family estimates, effect size reductions suggest partial confounding by early environmental factors, with associations for android/gynoid fat ratio persisting.

Conclusion: Family-level confounding plays a role in the link between age at first birth and cardiovascular biomarker risk factors. Age at first birth <20 may be associated with increased cardiovascular biomarker risk. Larger representative and/or twin studies are needed to assess these findings' significance, robustness to confounding, and specific pathways.

Background: The relationship between childhood socioeconomic status (SES) and adult health is well established. This article examines the less well-known areas of this research: whether the age of childhood exposure matters, if mediators differ based on age, and if these relationships vary by racialised group.

Methods: We used multi-group path analysis and data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to analyse direct and indirect relationships between a retrospective measure of childhood SES in early, middle and late childhood, and adult self-rated health for non-Hispanic Black and White individuals.

Results: Childhood SES affected adult health indirectly through each of the three mediators: education, distress and health behaviours, but only for non-Hispanic Whites. In addition, early and middle childhood SES (0-5 and 6-12 years old, respectively) impacted late childhood SES (13-16 years old), suggesting the importance of cumulative exposure. We found no evidence that childhood SES impacted any of the mediators or adult self-rated health for the non-Hispanic Black sample.

Conclusion: The findings support the assertion that timing of poverty and possibly increased exposure matter for non-Hispanic Whites, but we found no support for the impact of childhood SES on adult self-rated health for the non-Hispanic Black sample. This study shows the importance of stratifying life course analyses by race and particular periods during childhood, suggesting the need for more targeted interventions based on these factors.

Late middle-aged adults (50-64 years of age) who have physical disabilities often experience a decline in life satisfaction due to those bodily limitations. It is crucial to understand how their life satisfaction can be enhanced to support the social participation, health and wellbeing of this age group. This study examined the association between social participation and life satisfaction over time in Korean adults 50-64 years of age with physical disabilities. Data on 545 adults with physical disabilities aged 50-64 years from the 2016-2021 Korea Panel Survey of Employment for the Disabled (PSED) were extracted. The dependent variable was self-reported life satisfaction while social participation was the time-varying independent variable which was measured with a single question. The latent growth model (LGM) was used to examine the association between social participation and life satisfaction at each time point. The sample was composed of 313 (57.43 per cent) males and 232 (42.57 per cent) females from Korea having an average age of 57.42 years. A piecewise LGM demonstrated good model fit. Social participation was positively associated with life satisfaction at each time point for over the course of six years, with standardised coefficients ranging from 0.154 to 0.275 (p<0.001). Social participation contributed significantly to life satisfaction in Korean adults 50-64 years of age with physical disabilities. The findings indicate the need for social participation that could improve the life satisfaction of those with physical disabilities.

We examine the extent to which experience of out-of-home residential care (OHC) during childhood (ages 0-16) relates to development in the 'next generation'. Specifically, we ask whether maternal experience of OHC during her own childhood is associated with the behavioural, emotional and cognitive development of her child (age 3), drawing on data collected for the UK Millennium Cohort Study. Comparing the children of OHC experienced mothers with those whose mothers had not spent time in care, we observe stark raw differences between their early development, with children of OHC mothers performing worse across all domains examined - cognitive (language and school readiness), behavioural and emotional adjustment. Using regression analyses, we show that while the disadvantages in cognitive (language) and emotional adjustment among children of OHC experienced mothers are explained by differences in the child's family demographic characteristics and socio-economic status (SES), the associations between maternal OHC experience and behavioural problems and school readiness remain. Behavioural differences are mediated by aspects of parenting behaviours and the parent-child relationship; school readiness differences are only fully attenuated once maternal health and wellbeing measures are further accounted for. This article highlights the importance of extending support for those with OHC experience into adult life, particularly for those who become parents, and for particular attention to be given to initiatives that nurture parent-child relationships to help break the intergenerational transmission of disadvantage.

Research has shown that our socially structured experiences elicit a biological response, leading to the observation that numerous biomarkers (objective biological measures that are representative of various biological processes) are socially patterned. This 'social-to-biological' research is of interest to researchers across multiple disciplines and topics and especially to those with an interest in understanding the biological embodiment of the 'social environment'. Combining social and biomarker data is also of relevance to those examining the biological determinants of social behaviours (for example, the relationship between genetics and certain behaviours like smoking). However, as much of the research involving biomarkers and social data are multidisciplinary, researchers need to understand why and how to optimally use and combine such data. This article provides a resource for researchers by introducing a range of commonly available biomarkers across studies and countries. Because of the breadth of possible analyses, we do not aim to provide an exhaustive and detailed review of each. Instead, we have structured the glossary to include: an easy-to-understand definition; a description of how it is measured; key considerations when using; and an example of its use in a relevant social-to-biological study. We have limited this glossary to biomarkers that are available in large health and social surveys or population-based cohort studies and focused on biomarkers in adults. We have structured the glossary around the main physiological systems studied in research on social to biological transition and those that go across systems and highlight some basic terms and key theoretical concepts.

This study evaluated the extent to which body mass index (BMI) mediates associations between risk factors and incident high blood pressure in American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs), Non-Hispanic Whites (NHWs), Non-Hispanic Blacks (NHBs) and Hispanics. There were 7,793 participants from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health: 312 AI/ANs, 1,091 Hispanics, 1,567 NHBs and 4,823 NHWs. Risk factors for high blood pressure included adolescent BMI, TV watching, fast-food consumption, smoking, parental obesity, parental educational attainment and financial instability. Relative risk regression models stratified by race/ethnicity were used to examine associations between risk factors and incident high blood pressure. Path analysis was used to assess mediation by BMI. Female sex was a protective factor against high blood pressure, and higher BMI was a risk factor in all populations. Smoking increased high blood pressure risk in AI/ANs (Incident Rate Ratio [IRR]: 1.14, 95% CI: 1.02-1.27), but not in other groups. BMI partially mediated the effect of parental obesity on high blood pressure in NHWs and completely mediated the effect of parental obesity in NHBs. In AI/ANs and Hispanics, BMI did not mediate the relationship between incident high blood pressure and any risk factor. This study assessed the extent to which BMI mediates risk factors for high blood pressure in four populations, and showed important differences across populations. Further research is needed to improve knowledge about relationships between BMI, risk factors and incident high blood pressure, and their potential variability by race/ethnicity.