@article {11184, title = {Death of a Child Prior to Midlife, Dementia Risk, and Racial Disparities.}, journal = {The Journals of Gerontology, Series B}, volume = {75}, year = {2020}, pages = {1983-1995}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVES: This study considers whether experiencing the death of a child prior to midlife (by parental age 40) is associated with subsequent dementia risk, and how such losses, which are more common for black than for white parents, may add to racial disparities in dementia risk.

METHODS: We use discrete-time event history models to predict dementia incidence among 9,276 non-Hispanic white and 2,182 non-Hispanic black respondents from the Health and Retirement Study, 2000-2014.

RESULTS: Losing a child prior to midlife is associated with increased risk for later dementia, and adds to disparities in dementia risk associated with race. The death of a child is associated with a number of biosocial variables that contribute to subsequent dementia risk, helping to explain how the death of child may increase risk over time.

DISCUSSION: The death of a child prior to midlife is a traumatic life course stressor with consequences that appear to increase dementia risk for both black and white parents, and this increased risk is explained by biosocial processes likely activated by bereavement. However, black parents are further disadvantaged in that they are more likely than white parents to experience the death of a child, and such losses add to the already substantial racial disadvantage in dementia risk.

}, keywords = {Bereavement, Cumulative advantage/disadvantage, Dementia, Minority aging}, issn = {1758-5368}, doi = {10.1093/geronb/gbz154}, author = {Debra Umberson and Rachel Donnelly and Xu, Minle and Farina, Matthew 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} }