Dataset Information

Intergenerational Social Mobility and Allostatic Load in Midlife and Older Ages: A Diagonal Reference Modeling Approach.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

This study aims to understand the association of life-course intergenerational social mobility with allostatic load (AL) burden in midlife and older ages in Ireland.

Methods

The study involved biological data for 3,987 older adults participating in The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA). Intergenerational social mobility was characterized using the cross-classification of origin socioeconomic position (SEP; i.e., father's occupation) and destination SEP (i.e., own occupation). AL was operationalized using 12 biomarkers tapping cardiovascular, metabolic, renal, and immune system dysregulation. Diagonal reference modeling (DRM) and ordinary least square regression techniques were applied to explore the effect of social mobility on AL burden.

Results

A total of 55.5% experienced intergenerational mobility: 37.5% were upwardly mobile, 18.0% were downwardly mobile. A social gradient in AL was observed among the socially non-mobile. Destination SEP (b = 0.74, 95% CI = 0.57, 0.92) predominated in influence over origin, although both life stages exerted significant influence on later-life AL. Social mobility in either direction was not associated with AL burden. Mobility coefficients were substantially small across a large variety of model specifications.

Discussion

Findings provide evidence for an accumulation model of social inequalities in which disparities in health are diluted rather than increased by social mobility (i.e., gradient constraint), with the socially mobile having an AL score that is intermediate between their origin class and destination class. This implies that the effects of origin SEP on health are not immutable, but are instead responsive to changing socioeconomic circumstances across the life course.

SUBMITTER: McLoughlin S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9890911 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Intergenerational Social Mobility and Allostatic Load in Midlife and Older Ages: A Diagonal Reference Modeling Approach.

McLoughlin Sinéad S Präg Patrick P Bartley Mel M Kenny Rose Anne RA McCrory Cathal C

The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences 20230101 1

<h4>Objectives</h4>This study aims to understand the association of life-course intergenerational social mobility with allostatic load (AL) burden in midlife and older ages in Ireland.<h4>Methods</h4>The study involved biological data for 3,987 older adults participating in The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA). Intergenerational social mobility was characterized using the cross-classification of origin socioeconomic position (SEP; i.e., father's occupation) and destination SEP (i.e., o ...[more]

PMID: 36008104

Similar Datasets

Project description:The contemporaneous association between higher socioeconomic position and better health is well established. Life course research has also demonstrated a lasting effect of childhood socioeconomic conditions on adult health and well-being. Yet, little is known about the separate health effects of intergenerational mobility-moving into a different socioeconomic position than one's parents-among early adults in the United States. Most studies on the health implications of mobility rely on cross-sectional datasets, which makes it impossible to differentiate between health selection and social causation effects. In addition, understanding the effects of social mobility on health at a relatively young age has been hampered by the paucity of health measures that reliably predict disease onset. Analysing 4,713 respondents aged 25 to 32 from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health's Waves I and IV, we use diagonal reference models to separately identify the effects of socioeconomic origin and destination, as well as social mobility on allostatic load among individuals in the United States. Using a combined measure of educational and occupational attainment, and accounting for individuals' initial health, we demonstrate that in addition to health gradient among the socially immobile, individuals' socioeconomic origin and destination are equally important for multi-system physiological dysregulation. Short-range upward mobility also has a positive and significant association with health. After mitigating health selection concerns in our observational data, this effect is observed only among those reporting poor health before experiencing social mobility. Our findings move towards the reconciliation of two theoretical perspectives, confirming the positive effect of upward mobility as predicted by the "rags to riches" perspective, while not contradicting potential costs associated with more extensive upward mobility experiences as predicted by the dissociative thesis.

Dataset Information

Intergenerational Social Mobility and Allostatic Load in Midlife and Older Ages: A Diagonal Reference Modeling Approach.

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Publications

Intergenerational Social Mobility and Allostatic Load in Midlife and Older Ages: A Diagonal Reference Modeling Approach.

Similar Datasets

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