RETHINKING THE ROLE OF CHILDHOOD SES IN ADULT HEALTH

2016 The gerontologist  
is still lacking a theoretical conceptualization. The present study explores the subjective experiences of members of this age group concerning their age, and aims to make their voice heard and deepen the understanding of the distinctive characteristics of this age period. This is a qualitative research, based on in-depth interviews that look into the life stories of 30 individuals aged 48-64, all Israeli residents. The research findings reveal that the definition of middle age is not clear
more » ... and that some of the interviewees regard their age negatively. On the other hand, many interviewees report that this period is typically characterized by a relief of tasks, a sense of liberation, peace of mind, and increased confidence due to major life experiences. The perception that middle age is a tacit peak, accompanied by concerns about the future, came up repeatedly. The paper discusses the social concept that dichotomizes age into young vs. old, and calls for further research of and engagement with middle age. RETHINKING THE ROLE OF CHILDHOOD SES IN ADULT HEALTH P. Homan, S. Lynch, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina Mounting evidence indicates that childhood socioeconomic status (SES) has long-term effects on health and mortality in later adulthood. However, findings are mixed regarding how it influences health. Specifically, does childhood SES affect adult health only through adult SES, or does it exert an independent influence? We investigate whether inconsistent findings in the literature are attributable to the use of different health outcomes across studies. Using data from the 1998-2012 waves of the Health and Retirement Study, we estimate a series of hazard models and random effects models for 20 health outcomes, ranging from specific conditions of different levels of seriousness, to indexes of physical functioning, to indexes of serious disability, to mortality. We find that childhood SES has residual effects over and above its contribution to adult SES on less serious conditions and functioning measures, but only operates through adult SES to influence more serious conditions, disability measures, and mortality. Theoretical implications are discussed. Does religiosity and spiritual engagement increase with aging? An accumulating body of evidence says yes, supporting psycho-developmental theories of James, Jung, and Erickson. Another line of evidence points to theories of social support as an explanation for greater engagement in religion. This study explores these and other theories in understanding the complex patterns we are finding in older adults' religious and spiritual trajectories. Data come from intensive interviews with 70 individuals 65-95 from a variety of religious and non-religious backgrounds, discussions with 20 leaders of religious or non-religious groups, and survey responses from 503 Baby-boomers. Results indicate complex trajectories of both change and continuity as individuals reflect on their religious and spiritual biographies following retirement. Five patterns stand out as explanations for increases in religious or spiritual commitment: (1) Since retirement I had more time available to pursue church or spiritual affairs; (2) The death of someone close to me turned me to thinking about the meaning of life; (3) The church provides a meaningful source of friends and support for me; (4) I experienced a health crisis and that caused me to think about spiritual things; (5) I have become aware of the shortness of the years remaining and that has caused me to think more about the meaning of life. Quantitative analysis of survey data provide corroboration of these patterns. We discuss these findings in terms of both life-course personality theories and social integration/support theories. Numerous studies have tested the terminal decline hypothesis. These studies demonstrate how individuals show an accelerated rate of cognitive decline before death. However, these studies assume that individual trajectories follow one single pattern of change before death. Analytical techniques such as growth mixture models allow for the identification of subgroups of individuals with similar patterns of change. The objective of this study is to evaluate whether different groups of individuals experience terminal decline differently. Growth mixture models using time to death as the time metric were run to identify unobserved groups of individuals with similar cognitive decline trajectories. Two classes of terminal decline were identified and characterized by district trajectories (intercept and slope) of cognitive functioning. Both classes demonstrated an accelerated rate of decline before death providing support for the terminal decline hypothesis. Whereas growth mixture models have been used in various research studies on cognitive aging, this approach has never, to the best of our knowledge, been used in cognitive aging research in the context of terminal decline. Implications of this study for informing future research and interventions are discussed.
doi:10.1093/geront/gnw162.1047 fatcat:xavdw6ll4rcyhbo4jqdl6bm2gi