TY - JOUR T1 - Environmental bottlenecks in children's genetic potential for adult socio-economic attainments: Evidence from a health shock. JF - Population Studies (Camb) Y1 - 2019 A1 - Jason M. Fletcher KW - Childhood adversity KW - Genetics KW - Health Shocks AB - This paper explores gene-environment interactions-interactions between family environments and children's genetic predispositions-in determining educational attainment. The central question is whether poor childhood family environments reduce children's ability to leverage their genetic gifts to achieve high levels of educational attainment-are there important 'bottlenecks' for poor children? The multigenerational information and genetic data contained in the United States' Health and Retirement Study are used to separate two mechanisms for intergenerational transmission of socio-economic status: genetic endowments and family environments. Using parental in utero exposure to the 1918-19 influenza pandemic as a source of quasi-experimental variation in family environments (that did not affect children's genetic endowments), I estimate interactions between parental investments and children's genetic potential. The main finding suggests that girls with high genetic potential whose fathers were exposed to influenza face reduced educational attainments-a gene-environment interaction-but there is no similar effect for boys. VL - 73 IS - 1 U1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30350750?dopt=Abstract ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Spousal concordance in telomere length: New evidence from older adults in the US. JF - PLoS One Y1 - 2018 A1 - Jason M. Fletcher KW - Biomarkers KW - Couples KW - Marriage KW - Telomeres AB - Telomere length (TL) has been associated with a range of aging outcomes as well as mortality. Recent research has shown both high heritability (~70%) of TL as well as moderate spousal similarity (r~0.3) using European datasets. This paper explores the level of spousal concordance in telomere length in the Health and Retirement Study, a national sample of adults in the US. The results show that the spousal correlations are lower (r~0.11). Regression-based associations in TL in the US are low (beta~0.08) and also vary by the number of times respondents have been married, where spouses married a single time have higher associations in TL (beta~.12) than spouses married more once (beta~0.03). I also find variation in spousal TL association levels based on husband's education level. These findings suggest the possibility of both assortative mating patterns related to telomere length as well as likelihood of shared environmental factors that cause TL similarity in people who are socially connected. VL - 13 IS - 11 U1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30383762?dopt=Abstract ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Cohort Effects in the Genetic Influence on Smoking. JF - Behav Genet Y1 - 2016 A1 - Benjamin W Domingue A1 - Dalton C Conley A1 - Jason M. Fletcher A1 - Jason D Boardman KW - Aged KW - Cohort Effect KW - Female KW - Gene Frequency KW - Genetic Predisposition to Disease KW - Genotype KW - Humans KW - Male KW - Middle Aged KW - Multifactorial Inheritance KW - Smoking KW - Twins AB -

We examine the hypothesis that the heritability of smoking has varied over the course of recent history as a function of associated changes in the composition of the smoking and non-smoking populations. Classical twin-based heritability analysis has suggested that genetic basis of smoking has increased as the information about the harms of tobacco has become more prevalent-particularly after the issuance of the 1964 Surgeon General's Report. In the present paper we deploy alternative methods to test this claim. We use data from the Health and Retirement Study to estimate cohort differences in the genetic influence on smoking using both genomic-relatedness-matrix restricted maximum likelihood and a modified DeFries-Fulker approach. We perform a similar exercise deploying a polygenic score for smoking using results generated by the Tobacco and Genetics consortium. The results support earlier claims that the genetic influence in smoking behavior has increased over time. Emphasizing historical periods and birth cohorts as environmental factors has benefits over existing GxE research. Our results provide additional support for the idea that anti-smoking policies of the 1980s may not be as effective because of the increasingly important role of genotype as a determinant of smoking status.

PB - 46 VL - 46 UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84938496073andpartnerID=40andmd5=76a4f2cefad88fc22ebca2e435b4323e IS - 1 N1 - Export Date: 9 September 2015 Article in Press U1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26223473?dopt=Abstract U2 - PMC4720550 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Genetic and educational assortative mating among US adults. JF - Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Y1 - 2014 A1 - Benjamin W Domingue A1 - Jason M. Fletcher A1 - Dalton C Conley A1 - Jason D Boardman KW - Databases, Genetic KW - Educational Status KW - ethnicity KW - Female KW - Genome-Wide Association Study KW - Genotype KW - Humans KW - Male KW - Marriage KW - Metagenomics KW - Phenotype KW - Racial Groups KW - Sexual Behavior KW - Spouses KW - United States AB -

Understanding the social and biological mechanisms that lead to homogamy (similar individuals marrying one another) has been a long-standing issue across many fields of scientific inquiry. Using a nationally representative sample of non-Hispanic white US adults from the Health and Retirement Study and information from 1.7 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms, we compare genetic similarity among married couples to noncoupled pairs in the population. We provide evidence for genetic assortative mating in this population but the strength of this association is substantially smaller than the strength of educational assortative mating in the same sample. Furthermore, genetic similarity explains at most 10% of the assortative mating by education levels. Results are replicated using comparable data from the Framingham Heart Study.

PB - 111 VL - 111 IS - 22 N1 - Times Cited: 0 U1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24843128?dopt=Abstract U2 - PMC4050565 U4 - genetic homogamy/homophily/random mating/genetics/genetics ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Understanding heterogeneity in price elasticities in the demand for alcohol for older individuals. JF - Health Econ Y1 - 2013 A1 - Padmaja Ayyagari A1 - Deb, Partha A1 - Jason M. Fletcher A1 - William T Gallo A1 - Jody L Sindelar KW - Adult KW - Aged KW - Aged, 80 and over KW - Alcohol Drinking KW - Alcoholic Beverages KW - Behavior KW - Body Height KW - Costs and Cost Analysis KW - Female KW - Health Status KW - Humans KW - Male KW - Middle Aged KW - Models, Econometric KW - Socioeconomic factors KW - Taxes KW - United States AB -

This paper estimates the price elasticity of demand for alcohol using Health and Retirement Study data. To account for unobserved heterogeneity in price responsiveness, we use finite mixture models. We recover two latent groups, one is significantly responsive to price, but the other is unresponsive. The group with greater responsiveness is disadvantaged in multiple domains, including health, financial resources, education and perhaps even planning abilities. These results have policy implications. The unresponsive group drinks more heavily, suggesting that a higher tax would fail to curb the negative alcohol-related externalities. In contrast, the more disadvantaged group is more responsive to price, thus suffering greater deadweight loss, yet this group consumes fewer drinks per day and might be less likely to impose negative externalities.

PB - 22 VL - 22 IS - 1 U1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22162113?dopt=Abstract U2 - PMC3641566 U4 - Alcohol/Price elasticity/alcohol taxation/Public Policy/Elasticity of demand/heterogeneous policy responses/Fiscal policy/Fiscal policy/latent groups ER - TY - JOUR T1 - The effect of job loss on overweight and drinking. JF - J Health Econ Y1 - 2011 A1 - Deb, Partha A1 - William T Gallo A1 - Padmaja Ayyagari A1 - Jason M. Fletcher A1 - Jody L Sindelar KW - Alcohol Drinking KW - Body Mass Index KW - Female KW - Humans KW - Longitudinal Studies KW - Male KW - Middle Aged KW - Overweight KW - Unemployment KW - United States AB -

This paper examines the impact of job loss due to business closings on body mass index (BMI) and alcohol consumption. We suggest that the ambiguous findings in the extant literature may be due in part to unobserved heterogeneity in response and in part due to an overly broad measure of job loss that is partially endogenous (e.g., layoffs). We improve upon this literature using: exogenously determined business closings, a sophisticated estimation approach (finite mixture models) to deal with complex heterogeneity, and national, longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study. For both alcohol consumption and BMI, we find evidence that individuals who are more likely to respond to job loss by increasing unhealthy behaviors are already in the problematic range for these behaviors before losing their jobs. These results suggest the health effects of job loss could be concentrated among "at risk" individuals and could lead to negative outcomes for the individuals, their families, and society at large.

PB - 30 VL - 30 IS - 2 U1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21288586?dopt=Abstract U2 - PMC3086369 U4 - Job loss/Drinking/Business closings/Finite mixture models ER - TY - JOUR T1 - The impact of occupation on self-rated health: cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence from the health and retirement survey. JF - J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci Y1 - 2009 A1 - Ralitza Gueorguieva A1 - Jody L Sindelar A1 - Tracy Falba A1 - Jason M. Fletcher A1 - Patricia S Keenan A1 - Wu, Ran A1 - William T Gallo KW - Aged KW - Attitude to Health KW - Cohort Studies KW - Cross-Sectional Studies KW - Educational Status KW - Female KW - Health Status Indicators KW - Health Surveys KW - Humans KW - Linear Models KW - Longitudinal Studies KW - Male KW - Middle Aged KW - Mortality KW - Occupations KW - Odds Ratio KW - Retirement KW - Social Class KW - Socioeconomic factors KW - United States AB -

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study is to estimate occupational differences in self-rated health, both in cross-section and over time, among older individuals.

METHODS: We use hierarchical linear models to estimate self-reported health as a function of 8 occupational categories and key covariates. We examine self-reported health status over 7 waves (12 years) of the Health and Retirement Study. Our study sample includes 9,586 individuals with 55,389 observations. Longest occupation is used to measure the cumulative impact of occupation, address the potential for reverse causality, and allow the inclusion of all older individuals, including those no longer working.

RESULTS: Significant baseline differences in self-reported health by occupation are found even after accounting for demographics, health habits, economic attributes, and employment characteristics. But contrary to our hypothesis, there is no support for significant differences in slopes of health trajectories even after accounting for dropout.

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that occupation-related differences found at baseline are durable and persist as individuals age.

PB - 64 VL - 64 IS - 1 N1 - PMID 19196689 U1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19196689?dopt=Abstract U2 - PMC2654983 U4 - SELF-RATED HEALTH/Occupations ER - TY - RPRT T1 - Job Loss: Eat, drink and try to be merry? Y1 - 2009 A1 - Deb, Partha A1 - William T Gallo A1 - Padmaja Ayyagari A1 - Jason M. Fletcher A1 - Jody L Sindelar KW - Employment and Labor Force KW - Health Conditions and Status AB - This paper examines the impact of job loss from business closings on body mass index (BMI) and alcohol consumption. We improve upon extant literature by using: exogenously determined business closings, a sophisticated estimation approach (finite mixture models) to deal with complex heterogeneity, and national, longitudinal data (Health and Retirement Study). For both alcohol consumption and BMI, we find evidence that individuals who are more likely to respond to job loss by increasing unhealthy behaviors are already in the problematic range for these behaviors before losing their jobs. Thus health effects of job loss could be concentrated among at risk individuals. JF - NBER Working Paper PB - The National Bureau of Economic Research CY - Cambridge, MA U4 - Job Loss/Body Mass Index/Alcohol Drinking ER - TY - RPRT T1 - Sin Taxes: Do Heterogeneous Responses Undercut Their Value? Y1 - 2009 A1 - Padmaja Ayyagari A1 - Deb, Partha A1 - Jason M. Fletcher A1 - William T Gallo A1 - Jody L Sindelar KW - Health Conditions and Status KW - Methodology KW - Public Policy AB - This paper estimates the price elasticity of demand for alcohol using Health and Retirement Survey data. To account for unobserved heterogeneity in price responsiveness, we use finite mixture models. We recover two latent groups, one is significantly responsive to price but the other is unresponsive. Differences between these two groups can be explained in part by the behavioral factors of risk aversion, financial planning horizon, forward looking and locus of control. These results have policy implications. Only a subgroup responds significantly to price. Importantly, the unresponsive group drinks more heavily, suggesting that a higher price could fail to curb drinking by those most likely to cause negative externalities. In contrast, those least likely to impose costs on others are more responsive, thus suffering greater deadweight loss yet with less prevention of negative externalities. JF - NBER Working Paper PB - The National Bureau of Economic Research CY - Cambridge, MA U4 - Alcohol Abuse/methodology/Public Policy ER -