Are Changes in Somatic Health Reflected Differently in Updated Self-Ratings by Big-Five Personality Traits?

Objectives: This longitudinal study tests whether the Big-Five personality traits influence the changes individuals make in self-rated health (SRH) as they adjust their initial level to account for information on concurrent changes in disease burden, activities of daily living (ADLs), and pain. Methods: A bi-variate Latent Growth Curve model was fitted to data to estimate longitudinal associations between SRH and each health measure across up-to-five repeated observations, collected from the year 2006 to 2018 from 13,096 participants in the Health and Retirement Study. Results: Negative longitudinal associations between SRH and all three health reports were significantly stronger for those who are more conscientious. No significant moderation was found for the other four personality traits. Discussion: Compared to the less conscientious, highly conscientious people may assign greater importance to specific health reports when rating and revising their assessments of SRH. This moderating effect was previously tested but not supported.

The roles of non-heterosexuality outside of identity and gender non-conformity in Allostatic Load among young adults.

Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, this study contrasted levels of Allostatic Load at the baseline and change observed between the age 20s and 30s, among self-identified Lesbians/Gays/Bisexuals and heterosexuals with non-heterosexual attraction/behavior (discordant heterosexuals), against heterosexuals without (concordant heterosexuals). In addition, the study tested if Allostatic Load differs for each of the sexual orientation group differs jointly or independently of gender non-conformity. The study found no Allostatic Load elevation for self-identified non-heterosexual men and women. For women only, a significantly greater elevation of Allostatic Load is observed among discordant heterosexuals. Independently, Allostatic Load is found higher for females appearing more androgynous. The findings suggest expanding the current scope of sexual minority research to consider the relevance of minority stress to those without a LGB identity, who may be exposed to stress from disparate sources related to their gender identity.

Widening, Narrowing, and Persistence of Socioeconomic Gaps Between Sexual Minorities and Heterosexuals Across Adulthood.

In socioeconomic attainment, same-sex sexuality (SSS) matters, as well as whether SSS is experienced in adolescence (early) or not until later in adulthood (late). Using data from 8912 participants of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, sexual minorities are identified as the early or late groups. Multilevel regression models were used to compare their income, occupational status, and education separately against heterosexuals, based on repeated measures taken in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. This study found a significant lag in high-school graduation compared to a subgroup of men in the early group that did not express same-sex sexuality in adulthood. Independently, "gay penalty" in income emerged for the late group as they entered their 30s, and persisted into their 40s. No socioeconomic gaps were observed for the women. To serve equity goals for all sexualities, closer attention needs to be given to those with an evolving history of same-sex sexuality.

Cardiometabolic Risk and Cognitive Decline: The Role of Socioeconomic Status in Childhood and Adulthood.

Socioeconomic conditions in childhood predict cognitive functioning in later life. It is unclear whether poor childhood socioeconomic status (SES) also predicts the acceleration of cognitive decline. One proposed pathway is via cardiometabolic risk, which has been linked to both childhood SES and earlier onset of cognitive impairment. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study, we examine the impact of childhood SES on cognitive trajectories over six years and test whether it operates through increased cardiometabolic risk and adult SES. We find that higher childhood SES leads to slower cognitive decline, partially due to lower levels of cardiometabolic risk. However, these pathways operate entirely through adult socioeconomic attainment. The results have important implications for future trends in cognitive population health within the context of growing social inequality and reduced social mobility.

The developmental origins of health and disease in international perspective.

The developmental origins of health and disease and the comparative international approach are two important strands of research exploring population health. Despite the potential insights to be gained from integrating the two approaches, their nexus remains an underexplored frontier. The current study investigates international variation in the early life origins of health among aging cohorts in 13 countries. We examine cross-national differences in exposure to poor childhood health and socioeconomic disadvantage, whether the long-term health associations with those exposures vary across contexts, and whether they persist in the face of subsequent accumulation of socioeconomic and behavioral risk. Finally, we investigate whether childhood health and socioeconomic circumstances help explain between-country differences in later life health. The findings suggest substantial international variation in the exposure to early life health and socioeconomic insults. We also find variation in their association with later life health. However, early life factors appear to play a modest role in explaining international differences in later life health in the contexts examined here.

The Life Course, Cohort Dynamics, and International Differences in Aging Trajectories.

In recent years, population health research has focused on understanding the determinants of later-life health. Two strands of that work have focused on (1) international comparisons of later-life health and (2) assessing the early-life origins of disease and disability and the importance of life course processes. However, the less frequently examined intersection of these approaches remains an important frontier. The present study contributes to the integration of these approaches. We use the Health and Retirement Study family of data sets and a cohort dynamic approach to compare functional health trajectories across 12 high-income countries and to examine the role of life course processes and cohort dynamics in contributing to variation in those trajectories. We find substantial international variation in functional health trajectories and an important role of cohort dynamics in generating that variation, with younger cohorts often less healthy at comparable ages than the older cohorts they are replacing. We further find evidence of heterogeneous effects of life course processes on health trajectories. The results have important implications for future trends in morbidity and mortality as well as public policy.