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Retrospective reports of socioeconomic disadvantage in childhood and mortality risk: are associations consistent across measures and sex?

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Abstract

Although prior research has established associations between childhood socioeconomic disadvantage and all-cause mortality, there is still limited research investigating (1) the consistency between subjective and objective reports of childhood socioeconomic status, (2) sex differences in the associations between childhood socioeconomic disadvantage and all-cause mortality, and (3) potential mediators within these associations. Drawing on data from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) cohort (N = 7425), we examined the associations between three distinct indicators of childhood socioeconomic disadvantage and all-cause mortality risk, and whether these associations differ for males and females. Among males only, lower perceived relative childhood financial status, lower levels of parents’ education, and receipt of welfare during childhood were associated with excess mortality risk, adjusted for age and minority status, with adjusted hazard ratios ranging from 1.24 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.02, 1.51) for perceived childhood financial status to 1.28 (95% CI: 1.11, 1.47) for welfare in childhood. When additionally adjusted for education, substance use, depression, and underlying health conditions, only childhood welfare status maintained an association with mortality (AHR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.02–1.35). Mediation analyses among males revealed that education, substance use, depression, and underlying health conditions accounted for substantial proportions of these associations, ranging from 31.03 to 57.63%, across indicators of childhood socioeconomic disadvantage. Future research is needed to clarify the developmental mechanisms that lead to sex differences and identify effective strategies to intervene on the relation between childhood socioeconomic position and excess mortality risk among males.

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Funding

Dr. Slopen is supported by the National Institutes of Health Grant (1R01HL151848-01). Dr. Turpin is supported by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (K01MD016346). 

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Maryland School of Public Health, College Park, MD, 20740, USA

    Amanda E. Ng & Rodman Turpin

  2. Department of Biostatistics, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA

    Eric M. Connor

  3. Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Natalie Slopen

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  1. Amanda E. Ng
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  2. Rodman Turpin
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Correspondence to Amanda E. Ng.

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Table 4

Table 4 Comparison of sample characteristics between excluded (N = 275) and included participants (N = 7425)
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Ng, A.E., Turpin, R., Connor, E.M. et al. Retrospective reports of socioeconomic disadvantage in childhood and mortality risk: are associations consistent across measures and sex?. GeroScience 45, 105–118 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-022-00594-4

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