%0 Journal Article %J J Aging Health %D 2018 %T Early Origins of Adult Cancer Risk Among Men and Women: Influence of Childhood Misfortune? %A Blakelee R Kemp %A Kenneth F Ferraro %A Patricia M Morton %A Sarah A Mustillo %K African Americans %K Aged %K Child %K Female %K Hispanic Americans %K Humans %K Incidence %K Male %K Middle Aged %K Neoplasms %K Parents %K Prevalence %K Risk Assessment %K Risk Factors %K Social Class %K Social Conditions %K Socioeconomic factors %K United States %X

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of five childhood misfortune domains-parental behavior, socioeconomic status, infectious diseases, chronic diseases, and impairments-on all-site and selected site-specific cancer prevalence and all-site cancer incidence.

METHOD: Panel data from the Health and Retirement Study (2004-2012) were used to investigate cancer risk among adults above the age of 50.

RESULTS: Risky parental behavior and impairment in childhood were associated with higher odds of all-site cancer prevalence, and childhood chronic disease was associated with prostate cancer, even after adjusting for adult health and socioeconomic factors. Moreover, having one infectious disease in childhood lowered the odds of colon cancer. Cancer trends varied by race and ethnicity, most notably, higher prostate cancer prevalence among Black men and lower all-site cancer among Hispanic adults.

DISCUSSION: These findings underscore the importance of examining multiple domains of misfortune because the type and amount of misfortune influence cancer risk in different ways.

%B J Aging Health %V 30 %P 140-163 %8 2018 01 %G eng %N 1 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27683354?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1177/0898264316670049 %0 Journal Article %J Demography %D 2014 %T Why do older people change their ratings of childhood health? %A Vuolo, Mike %A Kenneth F Ferraro %A Patricia M Morton %A Ting-Ying Yang %K Adaptation, Psychological %K Age Factors %K Aged %K Aged, 80 and over %K Aging %K Female %K Health Status %K Humans %K Male %K Memory %K Middle Aged %K Retrospective Studies %K Self Report %K Sex Factors %K Socioeconomic factors %X

A growing number of studies in life course epidemiology and biodemography make use of a retrospective question tapping self-rated childhood health to assess overall physical health status. Analyzing repeated measures of self-rated childhood health from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), this study examines several possible explanations for why respondents might change their ratings of childhood health. Results reveal that nearly one-half of the sample revised their rating of childhood health during the 10-year observation period. Whites and relatively advantaged older adults-those with more socioeconomic resources and better memory-were less likely to revise their rating of childhood health, while those who experienced multiple childhood health problems were more likely to revise their childhood health rating, either positively or negatively. Changes in current self-rated health and several incident physical health problems were also related to the revision of one's rating of childhood health, while the development of psychological disorders was associated with more negative revised ratings. We then illustrate the impact that these changes may have on an adult outcomes: namely, depressive symptoms. Whereas adult ratings of childhood health are likely to change over time, we recommend their use only if adjusting for factors associated with these changes, such as memory, psychological disorder, adult self-rated health, and socioeconomic resources.

%B Demography %I 51 %V 51 %P 1999-2023 %8 2014 Dec %G eng %N 6 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25359668?dopt=Abstract %2 PMC4253875 %4 Retrospective questions/Self-rated health/Life course epidemiology/Reliability/Childhood conditions %$ 999999 %R 10.1007/s13524-014-0344-3