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

将生命历程视角应用于成人健康研究，揭示了早期生活经历与晚年健康结果之间的重要联系。尽管现有的大多数研究都集中在白人成年人之间的这些联系上，但本研究考察了这些联系在黑人、白人和西班牙裔成年人之间的差异。该项目建立在生命过程的流行病学模型的基础上，以解释多种形式的早期逆境损害健康的机制。以前的研究已经证明了早年不幸对生命历程的严重影响，但相对较少注意到累积的不幸及其对成年健康的影响的种族和民族差异。拟议的研究利用累积不平等理论来研究这些种族和民族在晚年积累的不幸和健康方面的差异，同时研究资源（社会经济和心理社会）、感知到的种族歧视和成人行为如何影响结果。这项研究的数据来自2004年至2010年间的四次健康与退休研究（HRS）。该研究使用了2004年19,630名成年人（51岁及以上）的数据，以及2010年重新访问的14,985名受访者的数据，提供了六年的观察，并有机会观察健康变化（例如发病率、残疾和自评健康）和死亡率。本研究有三个具体目的：1。研究哪种类型和模式的童年不幸对黑人、白人和西班牙裔成年人的健康和死亡率影响最大。2. 确定哪些成人行为和社会经济和社会心理资源可能介导童年不幸与晚年健康和死亡率之间的联系。3. 在黑人、白人和西班牙裔成年人中，测试种族歧视在童年不幸与成年健康和死亡率之间的调节作用。从上述目标得出的假设将通过各种多元分析技术进行检验，以估计童年不幸对成人健康和死亡率的直接和间接影响，并进行调解和调节的正式测试。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant Applying the life course perspective to the study of adult health has uncovered important links between early-life experiences and health outcomes in later life. Although most of the extant research focuses on these links among White adults, the present study examines how these links may vary for Black, White, and Hispanic adults. The project builds upon epidemiologic models of the life course to explicate the mechanisms by which multiple forms of early adversity compromise health. Previous research has demonstrated the gravity of early misfortune on the life course, but relatively little attention ha been given to racial and ethnic differences in both accumulated misfortune and the effects of such on adult health. The proposed research draws upon cumulative inequality theory to examine these racial and ethnic differences in accumulated misfortune and health in later life while examining how resources (both socioeconomic and psychosocial), perceived racial discrimination, and adult behavior influence the outcomes. Data for this research come from four waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) between 2004 and 2010. The study uses data from 19,630 adults (ages 51 and older) in 2004, and 14,985 respondents who were re-interviewed in 2010, providing six years of observation and the opportunity to observe both health changes (e.g., morbidity, disability and self-rated health) and mortality. This study has three specific aims: 1. to examine which types and patterns of childhood misfortune are most consequential to health and mortality among Black, White, and Hispanic adults. 2. To identify which adult behaviors and socioeconomic and psychosocial resources may mediate the links between childhood misfortune and both health and mortality in later life. 3. To test the role of perceived racial discrimination as a moderator of relationships between childhood misfortune and adult health and mortality among Black, White, and Hispanic adults. 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 misfortune on adult health and mortality, with formal tests of mediation and moderation.