Prognosis
Health effects on children's willingness to compete
Björn Bartling, Ernst Fehr & Daniel Schunk
Experimental Economics, March 2012, Pages 58-70
Abstract:
The formation of human capital is important for a society's welfare and economic success. Recent literature shows that child health can provide an important explanation for disparities in children's human capital development across different socio-economic groups. While this literature focuses on cognitive skills as determinants of human capital, it neglects non-cognitive skills. We analyze data from economic experiments with preschoolers and their mothers to investigate whether child health can explain developmental gaps in children's non-cognitive skills. Our measure for children's non-cognitive skills is their willingness to compete with others. Our findings suggest that health problems are negatively related to children's willingness to compete and that the effect of health on competitiveness differs with socio-economic background. Health has a strongly negative effect in our sub-sample with low socio-economic background, whereas there is no effect in our sub-sample with high socio-economic background.
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Mortality and Morbidity Risks and Economic Behavior
Avraham Stoler & David Meltzer
Health Economics, forthcoming
Abstract:
There are theoretical reasons to expect that high risk of mortality or morbidity during young adulthood decreases investment in human capital. However, investigation of this hypothesis is complicated by a variety of empirical challenges, including difficulties in inferring causation due to omitted variables and reverse causation. For example, to compare two groups with substantially different mortality rates, one typically has to use samples from different countries or periods, making it difficult to control for other relevant variables. Reverse causation is important because human capital investment can affect mortality and morbidity. To counter these problems, we collected data on human capital investments, fertility decisions, and other economic choices of people at risk for Huntington's disease. Huntington's disease is a fatal genetic disorder that introduces a large and exogenous risk of early mortality and morbidity. We find a strong negative relation between mortality and morbidity risks and human capital investment.
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Life Course Outcomes on Mental and Physical Health: The Impact of Foster Care on Adulthood
Cheryl Zlotnick, Tammy Tam & Laurie Soman
American Journal of Public Health, March 2012, Pages 534-540
Objective: We compared the prevalence rates of mental health and physical health problems between adults with histories of childhood foster care and those without.
Methods: We used 2003-2005 California Health Interview Survey data (n = 70 456) to test our hypothesis that adults with childhood histories of foster care will report higher rates of mental and physical health concerns, including those that affect the ability to work, than will those without.
Results: Adults with a history of childhood foster care had more than twice the odds of receiving Social Security Disability Insurance because they were unable to work owing to mental or physical health problems for the past year, even after stratifying by age and adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic characteristics.
Conclusions: Childhood foster care may be a sentinel event, signaling the increased risk of adulthood mental and physical health problems. A mental and physical health care delivery program that includes screening and treatment and ensures follow-up for children and youths who have had contact with the foster care system may decrease these individuals' disproportionately high prevalence of poor outcomes throughout their adulthood.
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Jason Fletcher
Journal of Labor Research, March 2012, Pages 49-75
Abstract:
In this paper, we use a longitudinal survey that has collected information for 50 years on a large cohort of Wisconsin high school graduates and their siblings to examine the long term impact of early occupational choice on health status. We find evidence that beginning a career in a blue collar occupation is correlated with several measures of poor health outcomes at ages 50-65. Since our dataset includes usually unobserved pre-labor market characteristics, including IQ and childhood health status, we can show that controlling for these variables is important for many results and suggests a high level of selection into occupation based on health and ability. We also provide evidence of gender differentials in the association between first occupation and later health. Then, we replace our basic measure of occupational categories with summary measures of job characteristics and find that employment at "bad jobs" at the beginning of an individual's career predicts later health outcomes. Finally, we use sibling information in the dataset to show that unmeasured family background factors explain a large share of the effects of occupation on later health. Overall, the evidence points to limited, though heterogeneous, long term effects of health from blue collar employment.
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Timothy Classen & Richard Dunn
Health Economics, March 2012, Pages 338-350
Abstract:
We examine the link between employment status and suicide risk using a panel of US states from 1996 to 2005 with monthly data on suicides, the duration of unemployment spells and the number of job losses associated with mass-layoff events. The use of aggregate data at the monthly level along with the distribution of unemployment duration allows us to separate the effect of job loss from the effect of unemployment duration, an important distinction for policy purposes, especially for the timing of potential interventions. Our results are consistent with unemployment duration being the dominant force in the relationship between job loss and suicide. Nevertheless, mass-layoffs may be powerful localized events where suicide risk increases shortly afterward. Implications for the design of unemployment insurance are discussed.
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Adolescent Health and Harassment Based on Discriminatory Bias
Stephen Russell et al.
American Journal of Public Health, March 2012, Pages 493-495
Abstract:
Is harassment based on personal characteristics such as race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, or disability more detrimental than general harassment? In 2 large population-based studies of adolescents, more than one third of those harassed reported bias-based school harassment. Both studies show that bias-based harassment is more strongly associated with compromised health than general harassment. Research on harassment among youths rarely examines the underlying cause. Attention to bias or prejudice in harassment and bullying should be incorporated into programs and policies for young people.
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Differential epidemiology: IQ, neuroticism, and chronic disease by the 50 U.S. states
Bryan Pesta et al.
Intelligence, forthcoming
Abstract:
Current research shows that geo-political units (e.g., the 50 U.S. states) vary meaningfully on psychological dimensions like intelligence (IQ) and neuroticism (N). A new scientific discipline has also emerged, differential epidemiology, focused on how psychological variables affect health. We integrate these areas by reporting large correlations between aggregate-level IQ and N (measured for the 50 U.S. states) and state differences in rates of chronic disease (e.g., stroke, heart disease). Controlling for health-related behaviors (e.g., smoking, exercise) reduced but did not eliminate these effects. Strong relationships also existed between IQ, N, disease, and a host of other state-level variables (e.g., income, crime, education). The nexus of inter-correlated state variables could reflect a general fitness factor hypothesized by cognitive epidemiologists, although valid inferences about causality will require more research.
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Rucker Johnson, Robert Schoeni & Jeannette Rogowski
Social Science & Medicine, February 2012, Pages 625-636
Abstract:
The relationship between neighborhoods of residence in young adulthood and health in mid-to-late life in the United States are examined using the 1968-2005 waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). The sample consists of persons who were aged 20-30 in 1968 and are followed for a period of 38 years (N = 2730). Four-level hierarchical random effects models of self-assessed general health status as a function of individual, family, and neighborhood factors are estimated. Using the original sampling design of the PSID, we analyze adult health trajectories of married couples and neighbors followed from young adulthood through elderly ages to assess the magnitudes of the possible causal effects of family and neighborhood characteristics in young adulthood on health in mid-to-late life. Estimates suggest disparities in neighborhood conditions in young adulthood account for one-quarter of the variation in mid-to-late life health. Living in poor neighborhoods during young adulthood is strongly associated with negative health outcomes in later-life. This result is robust even in the presence of a reasonably large amount of potential unobservable individual and family factors that may significantly affect both neighborhood of residence and subsequent health status. Racial differences in health status in mid-to-late life are also associated with family and neighborhood socioeconomic conditions earlier in life. Three quarters of the black-white gap in health status at ages over 55 can be accounted for by differences in childhood socioeconomic status and neighborhood and family factors in young adulthood.
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Socio-economic status is associated with epigenetic differences in the pSoBid cohort
Dagmara McGuinness et al.
International Journal of Epidemiology, forthcoming
Background: Epigenetic programming and epigenetic mechanisms driven by environmental factors are thought to play an important role in human health and ageing. Global DNA methylation has been postulated as an epigenetic marker for epidemiological studies as it is reflective of changes in gene expression linked to disease. How epigenetic mechanisms are affected by psychological, sociological and biological determinants of health still remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between socio-economic and lifestyle factors and epigenetic status, as measured by global DNA methylation content, in the pSoBid cohort, which is characterized by an extreme socio-economic and health gradient.
Methods: DNA was extracted from peripheral blood leukocytes using the Maxwell® 16 System and Maxwell® 16 Blood DNA Purification kit (Promega, UK). Global DNA methylation was assessed using MethylampTM Global DNA Methylation Quantification Ultra kit (Epigentek, USA). Associations between global DNA methylation and socio-economic and lifestyle factors were investigated in linear regression models.
Results: Global DNA hypomethylation was observed in the most socio-economically deprived subjects. Job status demonstrated a similar relationship, with manual workers having 24% lower DNA methylation content than non-manual. Additionally, associations were found between global DNA methylation content and biomarkers of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and inflammation, including fibrinogen and interleukin-6 (IL-6), after adjustment for socio-economic factors.
Conclusions: This study has indicated an association between epigenetic status and socio-economic status (SES). This relationship has direct implications for population health and is reflected in further associations between global DNA methylation content and emerging biomarkers of CVD.
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Is Childhood Asthma Associated With Educational Level and Longest-Held Occupation?
Jacek Mazurek, Patricia Schleiff & Paul Henneberger
American Journal of Epidemiology, 15 February 2012, Pages 279-288
Abstract:
Children with asthma can experience chronic morbidity that may interfere with education and career progression. The authors investigated retrospectively whether a history of childhood asthma is associated with educational level and longest-held occupation, by gender. Cross-sectional analysis included a nationally representative sample of 10,452 adults aged ≥20 years who participated in the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2001-2004). Logistic regression was used to assess associations between a childhood-asthma history and educational level, employment, and longest-held occupation. An estimated 6.9% of men and 5.8% of women had a childhood-asthma history. Persons with a childhood-asthma history tended to have a higher educational level than those with no asthma history. Among those who ever worked, and after adjustment for age and race/ethnicity, men with a childhood-asthma history were more likely to work in health-diagnosing occupations, other professional occupations, and as cooks; women with a childhood-asthma history were more likely to work in management-related, entertainment-related, and health service occupations. Compared with those with no asthma history, persons with a childhood-asthma history tended to achieve a higher educational level and, if they worked, were more likely to work in particular occupations.
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Discrimination makes me Sick! An Examination of the Discrimination-Health Relationship
David Johnston & Grace Lordan
Journal of Health Economics, January 2012, Pages 99-111
Abstract:
The attitudes of the general British population towards Muslims changed post 2001, and this change led to a significant increase in Anti-Muslim discrimination. We use this exogenous attitude change to estimate the causal impact of increased discrimination on a range of objective and subjective health outcomes. The difference-in-differences estimates indicate that discrimination worsens blood pressure, cholesterol, BMI and self-assessed general health. Thus, discrimination is a potentially important determinant of the large racial and ethnic health gaps observed in many countries. We also investigate the pathways through which discrimination impacts upon health, and find that discrimination has a negative effect on employment, perceived social support, and health-producing behaviours. Crucially, our results hold for different control groups and model specifications.
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Ethnic Inequalities in Mortality: The Case of Arab-Americans
Abdulrahman El-Sayed et al.
PLoS ONE, December 2011, e29185
Background: Although nearly 112 million residents of the United States belong to a non-white ethnic group, the literature about differences in health indicators across ethnic groups is limited almost exclusively to Hispanics. Features of the social experience of many ethnic groups including immigration, discrimination, and acculturation may plausibly influence mortality risk. We explored life expectancy and age-adjusted mortality risk of Arab-Americans (AAs), relative to non-Arab and non-Hispanic Whites in Michigan, the state with the largest per capita population of AAs in the US.
Methodology/Principal Findings: Data were collected about all deaths to AAs and non-Arab and non-Hispanic Whites in Michigan between 1990 and 2007, and year 2000 census data were collected for population denominators. We calculated life expectancy, age-adjusted all-cause, cause-specific, and age-specific mortality rates stratified by ethnicity and gender among AAs and non-Arab and non-Hispanic Whites. Among AAs, life expectancies among men and women were 2.0 and 1.4 years lower than among non-Arab and non-Hispanic White men and women, respectively. AA men had higher mortality than non-Arab and non-Hispanic White men due to infectious diseases, chronic diseases, and homicide. AA women had higher mortality than non-Arab and non-Hispanic White women due to chronic diseases.
Conclusions/Significance: Despite better education and higher income, AAs have higher age-adjusted mortality risk than non-Arab and non-Hispanic Whites, particularly due to chronic diseases. Features specific to AA culture may explain some of these findings.
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Katharine Zeiders, Leah Doane & Mark Roosa
Hormones and Behavior, forthcoming
Abstract:
Perceived discrimination remains a salient and significant environmental stressor for ethnic and racial minority youth. Although many studies have examined the impact of racial/ethnic discrimination on mental health symptomatology and physical health, little is known of the potential physiological processes underlying such experiences, especially during adolescence. In an attempt to understand how varying perceptions of discrimination relate to functioning of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis), the current study examined the relation between Mexican American adolescents' (N = 100, Mage = 15.3 years old) perceptions of discrimination and aspects of their diurnal cortisol profiles. Three salivary samples (wakeup, + 30 waking, bedtime) were collected across three days (total of 9 samples). Utilizing multi-level modeling, results revealed that adolescents' perceived discrimination related to greater overall cortisol output (area under the curve; AUC) after controlling for other life stressors, depressive symptoms, family income, acculturation level, daily stress levels and daily behaviors. Findings also revealed that perceived discrimination was marginally related to a steeper cortisol awakening response (CAR). Together, these findings suggest that perceived discrimination is a salient and impactful stressor for Mexican American adolescents. Understanding the physiological correlates of discrimination can provide insight into larger health disparities among ethnic and racial minority individuals.
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Traffic safety and vehicle choice: Quantifying the effects of the ‘arms race' on American roads
Shanjun Li
Journal of Applied Econometrics, January/February 2012, Pages 34-62
Abstract:
The increasing share of light trucks in the USA has been characterized as an ‘arms race' where individual purchases of light trucks for better self-protection nevertheless worsen traffic safety for society. This paper investigates the interrelation between traffic safety and vehicle choice by quantifying the effects of the arms race on vehicle demand, producer performance, and traffic safety. The analysis suggests that the accident externality of a light truck amounts to $2444 during vehicle lifetime and that 12% of new light trucks sold in 2006 and 204 traffic fatalities could have been attributed to the arms race.
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Does retirement trigger ill health?
Stefanie Behncke
Health Economics, March 2012, Pages 282-300
Abstract:
This paper investigates the effects of retirement on various health outcomes. Data stem from the first three waves of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). With these informative data, non-parametric matching and instrumental variable (IV) methods are applied to identify causal effects. It is found that retirement significantly increases the risk of being diagnosed with a chronic condition. In particular, it raises the risk of a severe cardiovascular disease and cancer. This is also reflected in increased risk factors (e.g. BMI, cholesterol, blood pressure) and increased problems in physical activities. Furthermore, retirement worsens self-assessed health and an underlying health stock.
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Phuong Do et al.
Economics & Human Biology, forthcoming
Abstract:
While a growing literature has documented a link between neighborhood context and health outcomes, little is known about the relationship between neighborhood characteristics and height. Using individual data from the 1999-2004 U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey merged with tract-level data from the U.S. Census, we investigate several neighborhood characteristics, including neighborhood socioeconomic status (NSES), education index of concentration at the extremes (ICE), and population density, as potential predictors of height. Employing a series of two-level random intercept models, we find a one standard deviation increase in NSES to be associated with a 0.6 to 1.4 cm height advantage for white and foreign-born Mexican-American females and for U.S. born Mexican-American males, net of individual-level controls. Similarly, a 10 point increase in neighborhood education ICE was associated with 0.23 to 0.32 cm greater height for white and foreign-born Mexican-American females and U.S. born Mexican-American males. Population density was nominally negatively associated with height for foreign-born Mexican-American females. Our findings reveal that lower physical stature for some ethnic and gender groups is clustered within neighborhoods of low SES and education, suggesting that contextual factors may play a role in influencing height above individual-level attributes.
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Early Life Financial Adversity and Respiratory Function in Midlife: A Prospective Birth Cohort Study
Mel Bartley, Yvonne Kelly & Amanda Sacker
American Journal of Epidemiology, 1 January 2012, Pages 33-42
Abstract:
Data from the 1958 National Child Development Study (1958-2004) were used in a prospective study of the relation of financial adversity in childhood to lung function in midlife. It was hypothesized that such a relation would be found and would be mediated partly by early housing deprivation, partly by continuities in social disadvantage, and partly by smoking. These hypotheses were confirmed. The mediating variables explained nearly two-thirds of the observed relation. The strongest individual pathway from early financial hardship to adult lung function was through poor housing in childhood. Poor housing increased the risk of educational failure, which in turn was strongly related to less-advantaged social class. Lack of educational qualifications and less-advantaged social class independently increased the risk of higher levels of smoking. Mediating variables therefore acted in part as indicators of environmental exposures and in part through their links to adult smoking. Early financial adversity is associated with adult lung function partly through poor housing and partly through pathways involving continuities in social disadvantage and the associated environmental exposures and behaviors.
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The Effects of Automobile Recalls on the Severity of Accidents
Yong-Kyun Bae & Hugo Benítez-Silva
Economic Inquiry, forthcoming
Abstract:
The number of automobile recalls in the United States has substantially increased over the last two decades, and after a record of over 30 million cars recalled in 2004, in the last few years it has consistently reached between 15 and 17 million, and in 2010 alone 20 million cars were recalled. Toyota's recall crisis in 2010 illustrates how recalls can affect a large number of American drivers and the defects connected to them can result in loss of life and serious accidents. However, in spite of the increase in public concern over recalls and the loss of property and life attached to them, there is no empirical evidence of the effect of vehicle recalls on safety. This paper investigates whether vehicle recalls reduce accidental harm measured by the severity of injuries in vehicle accidents. The results of our analysis show that if a recall for a new-year model is issued, then the severity of injuries of accidents continuously diminishes during the first year after the recall, something we do not find among cars not subject to recalls. This is because defects are repaired over time but also because drivers react by driving more carefully until the defects are fixed. To minimize the losses attached to having dangerously defective cars on our roads, both quick and timely recall issuance are needed and more detailed information on defects should be delivered to owners of defective vehicles. The latter can be made possible through simple but important policy changes by the U.S. government regarding recall information sharing with drivers and insurance companies.
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The mystery of missing heritability: Genetic interactions create phantom heritability
Or Zuk et al.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 24 January 2012, Pages 1193-1198
Abstract:
Human genetics has been haunted by the mystery of "missing heritability" of common traits. Although studies have discovered >1,200 variants associated with common diseases and traits, these variants typically appear to explain only a minority of the heritability. The proportion of heritability explained by a set of variants is the ratio of (i) the heritability due to these variants (numerator), estimated directly from their observed effects, to (ii) the total heritability (denominator), inferred indirectly from population data. The prevailing view has been that the explanation for missing heritability lies in the numerator - that is, in as-yet undiscovered variants. While many variants surely remain to be found, we show here that a substantial portion of missing heritability could arise from overestimation of the denominator, creating "phantom heritability." Specifically, (i) estimates of total heritability implicitly assume the trait involves no genetic interactions (epistasis) among loci; (ii) this assumption is not justified, because models with interactions are also consistent with observable data; and (iii) under such models, the total heritability may be much smaller and thus the proportion of heritability explained much larger. For example, 80% of the currently missing heritability for Crohn's disease could be due to genetic interactions, if the disease involves interaction among three pathways. In short, missing heritability need not directly correspond to missing variants, because current estimates of total heritability may be significantly inflated by genetic interactions. Finally, we describe a method for estimating heritability from isolated populations that is not inflated by genetic interactions.