Longitudinal and Life Course Studies (E-Journal)
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Examining mortality differential between a long-living community in Sardinia and the Italian population: a longitudinal analysis
Full text linkProgressive gains in life expectancy have brought increasing aging of developed countries’ populations and stimulated researches with respect to the limit of lifespan, the increasing presence of centenarians and the possible determinants of their “successful” ageing. In the international framework the population of the region of Sardinia was characterized by exceptional longevity. Through the comparison of life tables’ rates and life expectancy estimates of birth cohorts born in the period 1872-1910, this paper reports analyses of differences in overall mortality between Italy and the long-living community of Sardinia. The adoption of a longitudinal approach allows us to explore whether the previously detected differences at advanced ages are also observable in other age groups. In addition, the study focuses on the occurrence of mortality crossover as an indicator of significant mortality differences between populations. Results show that differences between the two populations are not limited to oldest old ages. Crossover points in mortality rates are observed in the first years of life and at age 50 years. Both intersections represent the points where differences in life expectancy are the highest. At age 5 years differences are of 1.8 years for females and 3.6 years for males, while at age 50 years they are respectively 1.5 years for females and 3.7 years for males. The observed differences suggest that possible explanations for differential mortality and crossover might be related to selection process timing and dynamics which could be determined by genetics, and specific causes of death, as well as by behavioural and environmental factors
Vulnerability as a heuristic concept for interdisciplinary research: assessing the thematic and methodological structure of empirical life course studies
Full text linkChanges in human lives are studied in psychology, sociology, and adjacent fields as outcomes of developmental processes, institutional regulations and policies, culturally and normatively structured life courses, or empirical accounts. However, such studies have used a wide range of complementary, but often divergent, concepts. This review has two aims. First, we report on the structure that has emerged from scientific life course research by focusing on abstracts from longitudinal and life course studies beginning with the year 2000. Second, we provide a sense of the disciplinary diversity of the field and assess the value of the concept of ‘vulnerability’ as a heuristic tool for studying human lives. Applying correspondence analysis to 10,632 scientific abstracts, we find a disciplinary divide between psychology and sociology, and observe indications of both similarities of—and differences between—studies, driven at least partly by the data and methods employed. We also find that vulnerability takes a central position in this scientific field, which leads us to suggest several reasons to see value in pursuing theory development for longitudinal and life course studies in this direction.
Socio-economic inequalities in profiles of social integration across adulthood: evidence from a British birth cohort study
Full text linkSocial integration in older age is a key quality of life component and is associated with reduced mortality and morbidity risk. There are socio-economic differences in social integration, but the influence of different indicators of socio-economic position on long-term change in social integration at older ages is not known. This study aimed to identify profiles of social integration across adulthood and explore the impact of various socio-economic indicators at different ages. Data were drawn from the MRC National Survey of Health and Development. A latent class analysis used measures of contact with friends and family, participation in group activities and marital status at ages 36, 43 and 60-64 to identify profiles of change in social integration for men and women. One-step analyses related profiles to father’s occupation-based socio-economic position, own educational attainment and head of household occupation-based socio-economic position. Four profiles of social integration were identified for men: high and maintained, married; medium and maintained, married; declining, married; and declining, unmarried. Higher head of household occupation and educational attainment were associated with greater likelihood of maintained integration. Four profiles of social integration were also identified for women: high and maintained, married; high and maintained, unmarried; declining group participation, unmarried; and declining group participation, married. Higher socio-economic position on all indicators was associated with greater likelihood of maintained integration. Lower socio-economic groups are more likely to experience declining social integration by early old age. Support to promote social integration may be particularly important for those with lower occupational grade or education
Precursors and consequences of youth poverty in Germany
Full text linkWe examine time trends, precursors and continuity of poverty during youth and young adulthood in Germany. Although Germany’s labour market performed well during the recent economic crisis, this occurred against the backdrop of growing social inequality and strong increase in the risk of poverty, especially among youth and young adults. Based on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study, we propose a method to take into account inter-generational support by virtually pooling the income of residentially independent children and their parents. We show that poverty risks are differentially related to the “big five” transitions to adulthood. Leaving the parental home and entering unemployment strongly increase poverty risks, whereas cohabitation and employment in the higher labour market segments are strong protectors against poverty. The transition to parenthood, educational participation and precarious employment are not consistently related to poverty risk once inter-generational support is taken into account. While enrollment at university has a positive impact on poverty when residentially independent children are considered economically independent, this effect disappears with adjustment for parental resources. Whereas the impact of youth transitions does not change over time, social background has a strong and increasing impact on poverty risks. Social background and poverty experiences during youth strongly affect poverty risks later in life, although life course continuity weakens through the period of youth transitions. Overall, these results clearly point towards the increasing importance of social background and inequality in affecting the risk of poverty during the transition to adulthood
Associations of head circumference at birth with early life school performance and later-life occupational prestige
Full text linkHead circumference at birth has been suggested as a marker of foetal brain development. New-borns with small head size have been shown to have lower intelligence scores in childhood. It is, however, unclear whether this relationship extends into adult life, and more importantly, whether adult status attainment and lifetime success is affected as a result. Furthermore it is unclear how social origin at birth attenuates the relationship between foetal brain development, childhood cognitive outcomes, and lifetime status attainment. Using the Uppsala Birth Cohort Multigenerational Study, a unique population-based database of 14,192 individuals followed from birth into advanced old age, we demonstrate that those born with small head circumference experience reductions in both early-life school performance and lifetime occupational prestige. These effects are not subject to modification by parental social class: small head size at birth is associated with lower grades and lower occupational prestige among individuals born into both advantaged and disadvantaged social classes. Employing causal mediation analysis, we also demonstrate that the link between head circumference at birth and adult occupational prestige is mainly the result of a direct effect, although a portion of this effect is also mediated by early-life school performance which also contributes to occupational attainment trajectories. These findings demonstrate the importance of early-life environments for cognitive development as well as lifetime status attainment