%0 Journal Article %J Journal of Aging and Health %D Forthcoming %T Characterizing Aging-Related Health in Older Women with a History of Incarceration: Multimorbidity, Polypharmacy, Mortality, Frailty, and Depression. %A Emerson, Amanda %A Li, Xinyang %A Zaller, Nick %A Ramaswamy, Megha %K Frailty %K lifecourse %K Social Factors %X

OBJECTIVE: To characterize aging-related health in women with past CLSI and compare with women with no-CLSI.

METHOD: Health and Retirement Study Wave 11 and 12 data from women age >50 with CLSI were compared with data from women age >50 with no-CLSI. Generalized linear models were estimated for aging-related health outcomes.

RESULTS: The group with CLSI ( = 230) was significantly younger than the no-CLSI group ( = 8035) yet had more physical, functional, and mental health challenges and fewer resources. Incarceration significantly predicted aging-related outcomes of multimorbidity, polypharmacy, mortality, frailty, and depression.

DISCUSSION: Earlier onset of physical and functional health conditions in women with past CLSI has implications for health education and promotion, clinical practice, and intervention design.

%B Journal of Aging and Health %P 8982643241233322 %G eng %R 10.1177/08982643241233322 %0 Journal Article %J Psychoneuroendocrinology %D 2023 %T Positive social factors prospectively predict younger epigenetic age: Findings from the Health and Retirement Study. %A Hillmann, Abby R %A Dhingra, Roma %A Reed, Rebecca G %K Aging %K DNA Methylation %K Epigenesis %K genetic %K Retirement %K Social Factors %K Spouses %X

OBJECTIVES: Positive social factors may slow biological aging, but this has yet to be rigorously tested. This study investigated whether baseline levels or changes over time in social support and contact frequency prospectively predicted epigenetic age.

METHOD: Health and Retirement Study participants (N = 1912, 46.3 % male, aged 42-87 at baseline) reported longitudinal social support and contact frequency data up to 3 times between 2006 and 2016 and provided blood in 2016. Baseline levels (intercepts) and changes over time (slopes) in social support from and contact frequency with spouses, children, friends, and other family were outputted from multilevel models and used to predict epigenetic age, estimated from Horvath, Hannum, GrimAge, PhenoAge, and Dunedin Pace of Aging.

RESULTS: In models adjusted for demographic and health characteristics, higher baseline levels of support from and contact frequency with friends were prospectively associated with a slower Pace of Aging (support: p = .002; contact: p = 0.009) and a lower GrimAge (contact: p = .001). In addition, higher contact frequency with children at baseline was prospectively associated with a lower GrimAge (p < .001), and higher contact frequency with family at baseline and an increase in family contact over time was associated with a lower Hannum age (baseline: p = .005; slope: p = .015).

CONCLUSIONS: Perceived support from and contact with close others, particularly friends, may have implications for healthy biological aging. Notably, the effect sizes for friends were comparable to the effect of body mass index on epigenetic age. Positive social factors were generally associated with second- and third-generation clocks, which may be more sensitive to psychosocial factors than first-generation clocks.

%B Psychoneuroendocrinology %V 148 %P 105988 %G eng %R 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2022.105988 %0 Journal Article %J Journal of Aging and Health %D 2022 %T Contemporary Research on Older Black Americans, a Special Issue of Journal of Aging and Health in Honor of the Life and Legacy of James S. Jackson. %A Taylor, Robert Joseph %K African Americans %K lifecourse %K Mental Health %K Social Factors %K Well-being %X

This special issue of the Journal of Aging and Health honors the memory of James Jackson by elevating his many research contributions to the physical and mental health of older Black Americans. The articles focus on the central problems and questions that James Jackson addressed throughout his illustrious career. All articles in the special issue focus on older Black Americans and include at least one of the following elements: (1) articles based on the National Survey of American Life, the data set for which James Jackson was the Principal Investigator; (2) articles that utilize the Environmental Affordances Model which was developed by James Jackson; (3) articles that include the Everyday Discrimination scale which was originally published by David Williams, James Jackson, and colleagues; (4) and articles based on the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), the data set for which James Jackson served as Editor for a special issue of .

%B Journal of Aging and Health %V 34 %P 301-306 %G eng %N 3 %R 10.1177/08982643221086334 %0 Journal Article %J Aging & Mental Health %D 2021 %T Early-life stress, depressive symptoms, and inflammation: the role of social factors. %A Julia S Nakamura %A Eric S Kim %A Kelly E Rentscher %A Bower, Julienne E %A Kate Kuhlman %K Aging %K depression %K Inflammation %K Social Factors %K Stress %X

OBJECTIVE: To identify modifiable, social factors that moderate the relationship between early-life stress (ELS) and health outcomes as measured by depressive symptoms and inflammation.

METHODS: Data were from 3,416 adults (58.28% female), ages 36 - 97 (M= 68.41; SD= 10.24) who participated in the 2006 wave of the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative sample of older adults in the United States. This study used hierarchical regression analyses to first test the main effects of ELS on depressive symptoms and inflammation (high-sensitivity C-reactive protein). Four social factors (perceived support, frequency of social contact, network size, and volunteer activity) were assessed as moderators of the ELS-depression and ELS-inflammation relationships.

RESULTS: There was a small, positive association between ELS and depressive symptoms ( = 0.17,  = 0.05, = .002), which was moderated by social contact and perceived support. Specifically, ELS was only associated with elevated depressive symptoms for participants with limited social contact ( = 0.24,  = 0.07, < .001) and low perceived support ( = 0.24,  = 0.07, < .001). These associations remained after accounting for potential confounds (age, body-mass index, adulthood stress, and marital status).

CONCLUSIONS: Increased social contact and perceived support may be protective for individuals at a higher risk of developing depressive symptoms as a result of ELS. Future interventions may benefit from leveraging these social factors to improve quality of life in adults with ELS.

%B Aging & Mental Health %G eng %R 10.1080/13607863.2021.1876636 %0 Newspaper Article %B EurekAlert %D 2020 %T Three-nation research to examine relationships between social factors and epigenetics %A Newcomb, Elizabeth %K Aging %K epigenetics %K NICOLA %K Social Factors %K TILDA %X $2.9 million National Institute on Aging grant to USC's Eileen Crimmins supports collaboration of large studies in US, Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland to answer questions about how life circumstances affect gene expression and health. %B EurekAlert %G eng %U https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-11/uosc-trt110920.php %0 Journal Article %J Gerontologist %D 2019 %T Measuring Social Participation in the Health and Retirement Study. %A Bret Howrey %A Carri L. Hand %K Social Factors %K Social Support %K Survey Methodology %X

Background and Objectives: Large data sets have the potential to reveal useful information regarding social participation; however, most data sets measure social participation via individual items without a global assessment of social participation.

Research Design and Methods: We used data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to assess whether 8 items from questionnaire pertaining to social participation (religious attendance, caring for an adult, activities with grandchildren, volunteering, charity work, education, social clubs, nonreligious organizations) formed a reliable, cohesive scale and to explore the predictive validity of this scale. We included respondents 65 years and older in the HRS who returned the psychosocial questionnaire in 2010 and 2012 with responses to the social participation items (n = 4,317 and n = 3,978). Three scales were explored: SoPart-30 using the original scoring; SoPart-10 using modified scoring; and SoPart-5 using dichotomous scoring.

Results: Five items were retained as a single factor for each scale, and graded response models and Mokken scale analysis confirmed the scale items with the SoPart-10 scale having the highest reliability (alpha = 0.74).

Discussion and Implications: Results suggest that a scale derived from the social participation items in the HRS may be useful in characterizing general social participation levels and identifying modifiable factors that can promote it in older populations.

%B Gerontologist %G eng %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30169644?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1093/geront/gny094 %0 Journal Article %J Journal of Religion, Spirituality & Aging %D 2019 %T Stress and inflammation among older adults: The moderating role of religiosity %A Jane Tavares %A Corina R Ronneberg %A Edward Alan Miller %A Jeffrey A Burr %K Depressive symptoms %K Religion %K Social Factors %X Chronic stress weakens the immune system and leads to heightened bodily inflammation, which in turn is linked with serious health conditions. This study examined whether religiosity moderates the relationship between stress and inflammation (measured by C-reactive Protein (CRP)). A sample of 4,734 community-dwelling older adults was drawn from the 2006 wave of the Health and Retirement Study. Logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between chronic stress (8-item index), inflammation (high CRP level), and religiosity (organizational, nonorganizational, and intrinsic), controlling for other factors. Higher levels of stress were significantly associated with high inflammation/CRP (p =.039). Further, intrinsic religiosity acted as a moderator of this relationship (p =.024), such that the relationship between stress and inflammation is lessened for persons with higher levels of intrinsic religiosity. Higher intrinsic religiosity attenuated the effects of stress on inflammation, suggesting that individuals with stronger religious commitment/motivation may better cope with stress. %B Journal of Religion, Spirituality & Aging %V 31 %P 187-202 %G eng %U https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15528030.2018.1536910https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/15528030.2018.1536910 %N 2 %! Journal of Religion, Spirituality & Aging %R 10.1080/15528030.2018.1536910 %0 Journal Article %J Journal of Family and Economic Issues %D 2019 %T Understanding the association between perceived financial well-being and life satisfaction among older adults: Does social capital play a role? %A Yeo, JeongHee %A Lee, Yoon G. %K Financial Health %K Life Satisfaction %K Social capital %K Social Factors %K Well-being %X Using data from the 2014 Health and Retirement Study (HRS), we examined the association between subjective perception of financial well-being and life satisfaction. We also examined the effect of social capital on the link between financial well-being and life satisfaction among older adults. We further explored how the role of social capital in life satisfaction differs by household asset quartiles. The role of social capital was statistically significant in the relationship between financial well-being and life satisfaction among older adults. The findings of this study suggest that participation in social activities explains the link between financial well-being and life satisfaction among older adults, and its mediating effect is slightly larger for the top quartile than the bottom quartile. %B Journal of Family and Economic Issues %V 40 %G eng %U https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10834-019-09634-2 %! J Fam Econ Iss %R 10.1007/s10834-019-09634-2 %0 Journal Article %J Nature Communications %D 2018 %T Elucidating the genetic basis of social interaction and isolation %A Day, Felix R %A Ong, Ken K %A Perry, John R B %K Depressive symptoms %K Genetics %K Social Factors %K Social Support %X The negative impacts of social isolation and loneliness on health are well documented. However, little is known about their possible biological determinants. In up to 452,302 UK Biobank study participants, we perform genome-wide association study analyses for loneliness and regular participation in social activities. We identify 15 genomic loci (P < 5 × 10−8) for loneliness, and demonstrate a likely causal association between adiposity and increased susceptibility to loneliness and depressive symptoms. Further loci were identified for regular attendance at a sports club or gym (N = 6 loci), pub or social club (N = 13) or religious group (N = 18). Across these traits there was strong enrichment for genes expressed in brain regions that control emotional expression and behaviour. We demonstrate aetiological mechanisms specific to each trait, in addition to identifying loci that are pleiotropic across multiple complex traits. Further study of these traits may identify novel modifiable risk factors associated with social withdrawal and isolation. %B Nature Communications %V 9 %P 1-6 %G eng %U http://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-04930-1http://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-04930-1.pdfhttp://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-04930-1.pdfhttp://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-04930-1 %N 1 %! Nat Commun %R 10.1038/s41467-018-04930-1 %0 Journal Article %J SSM Popul Health %D 2018 %T Machine learning approaches to the social determinants of health in the Health and Retirement study. %A Seligman, Benjamin %A Tuljapurkar, Shripad %A David Rehkopf %K Biomarkers %K Computer science %K Machine learning %K Neural network %K Social Factors %K Social Support %X

Background: Social and economic factors are important predictors of health and of recognized importance for health systems. However, machine learning, used elsewhere in the biomedical literature, has not been extensively applied to study relationships between society and health. We investigate how machine learning may add to our understanding of social determinants of health using data from the Health and Retirement Study.

Methods: A linear regression of age and gender, and a parsimonious theory-based regression additionally incorporating income, wealth, and education, were used to predict systolic blood pressure, body mass index, waist circumference, and telomere length. Prediction, fit, and interpretability were compared across four machine learning methods: linear regression, penalized regressions, random forests, and neural networks.

Results: All models had poor out-of-sample prediction. Most machine learning models performed similarly to the simpler models. However, neural networks greatly outperformed the three other methods. Neural networks also had good fit to the data (between 0.4-0.6, versus <0.3 for all others). Across machine learning models, nine variables were frequently selected or highly weighted as predictors: dental visits, current smoking, self-rated health, serial-seven subtractions, probability of receiving an inheritance, probability of leaving an inheritance of at least $10,000, number of children ever born, African-American race, and gender.

Discussion: Some of the machine learning methods do not improve prediction or fit beyond simpler models, however, neural networks performed well. The predictors identified across models suggest underlying social factors that are important predictors of biological indicators of chronic disease, and that the non-linear and interactive relationships between variables fundamental to the neural network approach may be important to consider.

%B SSM Popul Health %V 4 %P 95-99 %G eng %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29349278?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1016/j.ssmph.2017.11.008 %0 Journal Article %J Biodemography and Social Biology %D 2016 %T The Geographic Distribution of Genetic Risk as Compared to Social Risk for Chronic Diseases in the United States. %A David Rehkopf %A Benjamin W Domingue %A Cullen, Mark R %K Chronic conditions %K Genetics %K Geography %K Social Factors %X There is an association between chronic disease and geography, and there is evidence that the environment plays a critical role in this relationship. Yet at the same time, there is known to be substantial geographic variation by ancestry across the United States. Resulting geographic genetic variation-that is, the extent to which single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) related to chronic disease vary spatially-could thus drive some part of the association between geography and disease. We describe the variation in chronic disease genetic risk by state of birth by taking risk SNPs from genome-wide association study meta-analyses for coronary artery disease, diabetes, and ischemic stroke and creating polygenic risk scores. We compare the amount of variability across state of birth in these polygenic scores to the variability in parental education, own education, earnings, and wealth. Our primary finding is that the polygenic risk scores are only weakly differentially distributed across U.S. states. The magnitude of the differences in geographic distribution is very small in comparison to the distribution of social and economic factors and thus is not likely sufficient to have a meaningful effect on geographic disease differences by U.S. state. %B Biodemography and Social Biology %V 62 %P 126-42 %8 2016 %G eng %N 1 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27050037?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1080/19485565.2016.1141353