Childhood Misfortune and Adult Health among Black, White, and Hispanic Americans

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Childhood Misfortune and Adult Health among Black, White, and Hispanic Americans Project Summary/Abstract Recent epidemiologic research provides compelling evidence that negative events and experiences early in life hasten the onset and progression of numerous adult chronic diseases. Despite the growing evidence, the precise mechanisms for these relationships remain a subject of continuing debate. The purpose of this project, therefore, is to explicate mechanisms and pathways to reduce harmful health consequences of negative childhood exposures. We investigate the early origins of adult health conditions of urgent national need (cardiovascular disease and cognitive decline) as well as the propensity to grow older free of physical and cognitive impairment, which we refer to as exceptional longevity. We seek to identify resources that empower diverse groups of Americans to optimize their health and longevity, even after facing considerable misfortune early in life. We hypothesize that chronic inflammation is a critical pathway by which life course stressors exact a toll on health but that social, psychological, and community resources over the life course reduce health risks. Although most of the extant research on the topic examines White adults, the present study investigates whether the mechanisms vary for Black, White, and Hispanic Americans. Resources such as social support and health lifestyles vary across racial and ethnic communities, suggesting the value of investigating distinct mechanisms for amelioration. We use eight waves of data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), organized in two studies, to test hypotheses. Study 1 examines data from 19,630 adults (age 51+) in 2004 who are re-interviewed biennially, providing 14 years of observation. Study 2 uses information from 10,325 adults (age 51+) in 2010, incorporating rich data from the Life History Surveys launched in 2015. There are three specific aims: 1. To identify mediators of the relationship between childhood exposures and risk of cardiovascular diseases among Black, White, and Hispanic adults. 2. To examine the relationship between childhood exposures and cognitive decline—an early indicator of risk for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders (ADRD)—among Black, White, and Hispanic adults as well as the potential mediators of the relationship. 3. To explicate relationships between childhood exposures and exceptional longevity and identify resources that enable Black, White, and Hispanic adults to be free of both physical and cognitive impairment in later life. The hypotheses, derived from the above aims, will be tested with a variety of multivariate analytic techniques to estimate direct and indirect effects of childhood exposures on the outcomes, with formal tests of mediation and moderation.