@article {11027,
	title = {Life Course Socioeconomic Disadvantage and the Aging Immune System: Findings from the Health and Retirement Study},
	journal = {The Journals of Gerontology: Series B},
	volume = {76},
	year = {2021},
	pages = {1195-1205},
	abstract = {Previous research has documented a consistent association between current socioeconomic status (SES) and cytomegalovirus (CMV). Early life is likely a critical period for CMV exposure and immune development, but less is known about early life socioeconomic factors and CMV, particularly in older age populations. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study, we investigated the association between life course socioeconomic disadvantage and immune response to CMV among older adults.Using ordered logit models, we estimated associations between several measures of socioeconomic disadvantage and the odds of being in a higher CMV Immunoglobulin G (IgG) response category in a sample of 8,168 respondents aged 50+ years.We found a significant association between educational attainment and CMV IgG response. Those with less than a high school education had 2.00 (95\% CI: 1.67, 2.40) times the odds of being in a higher CMV category compared to those with a college degree or greater. In addition, we also observed a significant association with parental education and CMV response. Individuals with parents having 8 years or less of schooling had 2.32 (95\% CI: 2.00, 2.70) times the odds of higher CMV response compared to those whose parents had greater than a high school education.CMV IgG levels in older adults are associated with both early life and adult SES. Life course socioeconomic disadvantage may contribute to disparities in immunological aging.},
	keywords = {immune aging, life course studies, persistent infections, socioeconomic disadvantage},
	isbn = {1079-5014},
	doi = {https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbaa144},
	author = {Grace A Noppert and Rebecca C Stebbins and Jennifer B Dowd and Robert A Hummer and Allison E Aiello}
}
@article {Donnelly2020,
	title = {Race, death of a child, and mortality risk among aging parents in the United States},
	journal = {Social Science and Medicine},
	volume = {249},
	year = {2020},
	pages = {112853},
	abstract = {The death of a child is a stressful and traumatic life event that has been linked to increased mortality risk among parents. Tragically, black parents are significantly more likely than white parents to lose a child in the United States; however, prior research has not addressed this racial disadvantage in relation to parents{\textquoteright} mortality risk. In this study, we focus on the racial context of the United States to suggest that black parents already face higher mortality rates compared to white parents, and the unequal burden of child death adds to their mortality risk. Using discrete-time event history models, we consider whether the death of a child by midlife is associated with increased mortality risk for black parents and for white parents in mid- to later-life using longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS; 1996{\textendash}2016). Descriptive results show that by midlife, black parents, especially black mothers, experience substantially higher child mortality compared with white parents. At the same time, we find that losing a child prior to midlife is associated with heightened mortality risk for aging black mothers and white mothers. Controlling for educational attainment explains the association between child death and parental mortality risk among white mothers, whereas heightened biopsychosocial and behavioral risk factors explain the association for black mothers. Overall, the death of a child is associated with increased mortality risk for black mothers and for white mothers, but the processes linking child death to parental mortality seem to differ for black and white parents. These findings have implications for policies and interventions that address increased mortality risk for parents following the death of a child. {\textcopyright} 2020 Elsevier Ltd},
	keywords = {Bereavement, Death of a child, Minority aging, Mortality, race},
	doi = {10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.112853},
	author = {Rachel Donnelly and Debra Umberson and Robert A Hummer and Michael A Garcia}
}
@article {10455,
	title = {DEATH OF A CHILD AND MORTALITY RISK OVER THE LIFE COURSE: RACIAL DISADVANTAGE IN THE U.S.},
	journal = {Innovation in Aging},
	volume = {3},
	year = {2019},
	pages = {S436-S436},
	abstract = {Numerous studies show that bereavement, including bereavement following the death of a minor child, increases mortality risk in white populations. The death of a child prior to midlife has received much less attention. Moreover, recent research shows that black Americans are substantially more likely to lose a child compared to white Americans, but this racial disadvantage is largely unexplored. Losing a child is a traumatic event that may activate biopsychosocial and behavioral risk factors that add to mortality risk. We analyze longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (1992-2014) to assess the association of child loss prior to midlife with mortality risk in mid to later life, and the possible biopsychosocial and behavioral covariates linking child death to mortality. The analytic sample includes 20,489 non-Hispanic white respondents and 5,328 non-Hispanic black respondents who have ever given birth to or fathered at least one child. Findings suggest that that the death of a child prior to midlife is associated with increased mortality risk, net of sociodemographic controls. Psychological (e.g., depressive symptoms), behavioral (e.g., alcohol use, smoking), and social (e.g., income, marital status) factors explain this heightened mortality risk. Although the heightened mortality risk for child loss is similar for black and white parents, black parents experience a greater disadvantage as they are almost twice as likely as white parents to lose a child prior to midlife. Child loss and the resulting health risks disproportionately burden black families, functioning as a unique source of disadvantage for black Americans.},
	keywords = {child death, mortality risk, race, race-ethnicity, Racial Disparities},
	isbn = {2399-5300},
	doi = {10.1093/geroni/igz038.1630},
	author = {Rachel Donnelly and Debra Umberson and Robert A Hummer and Michael A Garcia}
}
