Neighborhood Conditions and Social Network Turnover among Older Adults.

Increasing research highlights heterogeneity in patterns of social network change, with growing evidence that these patterns are shaped in part by social structure. The role of social and structural neighborhood conditions in the addition and loss of kin and non-kin network members, however, has not been fully considered. In this paper, we argue that the residential neighborhood context can either facilitate or prevent the turnover of core network relationships in later life - a period of the life course characterized by heightened reliance on network ties and vulnerability to neighborhood conditions. Using longitudinal data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project linked with data from the American Community Survey, we find that higher levels of neighborhood concentrated disadvantage are associated with the loss of older adults' kin and non-kin network members over time. Higher levels of perceived neighborhood social interaction, however, are associated with higher rates of adding non-kin network members and lower rates of adding kin network members over time. We suggest that neighborhood conditions, including older adults' perceptions of neighborhood social life, represent an underexplored influence on kin and non-kin social network dynamics, which could have implications for access to social resources later in the life course.

Everyday discrimination in later life: A social network approach.

What factors shape everyday discrimination among older adults? Existing perspectives focus on individual identities and social group membership (e.g., race/ethnicity, age) as key determinants of perceived discrimination. This paper examines the idea that individuals' broader social contexts - including their personal social networks - also shape perceived discrimination, and in ways that may differ across racial groups. Using data from Round 3 of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (N = 3312), I consider how properties of personal networks are associated with how frequently older adults report everyday discrimination. Results indicate that more kin-centric personal networks protect against more frequent everyday discrimination, but that this protective effect may be stronger among White older adults. I propose why more kin-centric networks may play a different role in the perceived discrimination of White and Black older adults, and close by suggesting that social network composition may be a source of heterogeneity in the link between everyday discrimination and inequality in later life outcomes such as health.

Parental Incarceration and Child Health in the United States.

Mass incarceration has profoundly restructured the life courses of not only marginalized adult men for whom this event is now so prevalent but also their families. We examined research published from 2000 to 2017 on the consequences of parental incarceration for child health in the United States. In addition to focusing on specific health outcomes, we also considered broader indicators of child well-being because there has been little research on the association between parental incarceration and objectively measured child health outcomes. Our findings support 4 conclusions. First, paternal incarceration is negatively associated-possibly causally so-with a range of child health and well-being indicators. Second, although some research has suggested a negative association between maternal incarceration and child health, the evidence on this front is mixed. Third, although the evidence for average effects of paternal incarceration on child health and well-being is strong, research has also suggested that some key factors moderate the association between paternal incarceration and child health and well-being. Finally, because of the unequal concentration of parental incarceration and the negative consequences this event has for children, mass incarceration has increased both intracountry inequality in child health in the United States and intercountry inequality in child health between the United States and other developed democracies. In light of these important findings, investment in data infrastructure-with emphasis on data sets that include reliable measures of parental incarceration and child health and data sets that facilitate causal inferences-is needed to understand the child health effects of parental incarceration.

How much would eliminating drug crimes decrease racial/ethnic gaps in criminal conviction?

Since the 1970s, criminal justice contact has become an increasingly common event in early adulthood, and disproportionately so for African American men. Policymakers often argue that reducing drug-related conviction rates is among the easiest ways to reduce racial/ethnic disparities in incarceration. These arguments are often backed by statistics that convey the number of drug offenders in contact with the criminal justice system at a given point in time. Unfortunately, we know little about the extent to which over-time conviction risk and associated racial/ethnic disparities may be affected by drug-related policy changes. Using a novel application of the single decrement life table to analyze data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97), I present a quantitative thought experiment to consider the extent to which the elimination of drug-related offenses would affect racial/ethnic disparities in men's cumulative probability of conviction by age 30. Consistent with prior research, results indicate that black men are at disproportionately higher risk of ever experiencing a drug-related conviction, and of experiencing a drug-related conviction at each conviction instance. More surprising, however, is the finding that while the removal of drug sentencing may significantly impact racial/ethnic disparities associated with conviction, only a relatively small proportion of those ever convicted would avoid conviction altogether in the absence of drug-related sentencing.

Banking on the Neighborhood? Inequalities in Older Adults' Access to Local Banking and Neighborhood Perceptions.

OBJECTIVES: Access to local banking represents an understudied dimension of neighborhood-based inequalities that could significantly influence older adults' perceptions of their neighborhood spaces in ways that matter for disparities in well-being. We evaluate disparities in banking access and then examine how local banking access informs older adults' perceptions of neighborhood collective efficacy and danger, above and beyond other neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics. METHODS: We use nationally representative data from older adults in the United States who were interviewed at Round 3 of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project, linked with data on banks in respondents' residential and surrounding census tracts from the National Establishment Time-Series database, in a series of bivariate and multivariable regression analyses. RESULTS: White older adults and those with higher levels of education have significantly greater local banking access than Black and Hispanic older adults and those with lower levels of education. Higher rates of local banking institutions are associated with significantly lower perceptions of neighborhood danger, but not with perceived collective efficacy. This finding emerges when accounting for neighborhood concentrated disadvantage and physical disorder. DISCUSSION: Local banks may represent neighborhood investment and the broader economic vitality of a community, as well as the ability of communities to meet older adults' everyday needs in ways that enhance older residents' feelings of safety. Increasing access to local financial institutions may help attenuate neighborhood-based contributors to inequalities in health and well-being among the older adult population.

Sensory Health Among Older Adults in the United States: A Neighborhood Context Approach.

OBJECTIVES: Sensory health declines with age but remains critical to the navigation and enjoyment of everyday life. Neighborhoods are key sites of environmental exposure, social engagement, and access to resources that can shape sensory health, yet the residential neighborhood is understudied as a determinant of sensory function. METHODS: We use data from Rounds 1 and 2 of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project to examine how subjective and objective measures of older adults' residential areas are associated with sensory health in a series of cross-sectional and multilevel regression models. RESULTS: In cross-sectional models, higher levels of perceived neighborhood social ties are associated with significantly better self-rated vision. Older adults who reside in more densely populated tracts are more likely to have significantly worse olfactory identification, whereas residing in tracts with higher levels of concentrated disadvantage is associated with significantly lower levels of self-rated vision. In multilevel models, residing in more densely populated tracts is associated with significantly worse olfactory identification, whereas tract-level concentrated disadvantage is associated with significantly worse hearing and vision. DISCUSSION: We propose that neighborhood characteristics could influence certain environmental exposures, the amount of time that older adults spend out of the home, patterns of social engagement, and access to preventative care that collectively affect sensory health. Residential neighborhoods may be important sites of potential intervention to slow age-related sensory declines and other related conditions.

Olfaction in (Social) Context: The Role of Social Complexity in Trajectories of Older Adults' Olfactory Abilities.

Objectives: Olfaction is an important correlate of later-life health, including cognition and mortality risk. Environmental enrichment protects against olfactory decline, yet little research considers the social context as a source of sensory enrichment or stimulation. This study examines how exposure to social complexity (i.e., diversity or novelty in social networks and activities) shapes later-life olfaction. Methods: Cross-sectional and longitudinal ordered logit models analyze data from 1,447 older adults interviewed at Rounds 1 and 2 of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project. Results: Exposure to greater social complexity (larger social networks, greater network diversity) is associated with significantly better olfaction at baseline. Increases in network diversity and fewer network losses significantly protect against olfactory decline over time. Discussion: Findings highlight the social context as an important, yet relatively overlooked source of sensory enrichment, and underscore the need for biological applications to integrate social life dynamics into studies of health trajectories.

Stand by Me: Social Ties and Health in Real-Time.

Sociological research has documented myriad associations between individuals' overall social connectedness and health, but rarely considers the shorter-term dynamics of social life that may underlie these associations. We examine how being with others ("social accompaniment") is associated with momentary experiences of symptoms, drawing smartphone-based ecological momentary assessments (N=12,720) collected from 342 older adults from the Chicago Health and Activity in Real Time study. We find that patterns of social accompaniment are distinct from global measures of social integration such as network size. Older adults who are in the company of a friend or neighbor are significantly less likely to experience momentary fatigue and stress, even after accounting for overall measures of social integration. These results suggest that social accompaniment has unique implications for short-term health outcomes. New theoretical perspectives and empirical analyses are needed to better understand the dynamic nature of everyday social accompaniment and its longer-term implications for well-being.

Personal network size and social accompaniment: Protective or risk factor for momentary loneliness, and for whom?

Personal networks yield important health benefits for individuals, in part by providing more opportunities to be in the company of others throughout daily life. Social accompaniment is generally believed to protect against momentary feelings of loneliness, although this hypothesis remains understudied. We examine how personal network size shapes older adults' experiences of momentary loneliness and whether this association varies by momentary social accompaniment. We use three waves of ecological momentary assessments (EMA; N = 12,359) and personal network data from 343 older adults in the Chicago Health and Activity in Real-Time study. Older adults with large personal networks experienced more intense momentary loneliness compared to those with smaller social networks when they were momentarily alone. This association was more pronounced among men. We discuss how research approaches that bridge global and momentary measures of social connectedness can reveal important nuances of our understanding of how interpersonal factors influence later-life well-being over time.

Homeostasis Revisited: Patterns of Stability and Rebalancing in Older Adults' Social Lives.

OBJECTIVES: To examine patterns of change in later-life social connectedness: (a) the extent and direction of changes in different aspects of social connectedness, including size, density, and composition of social networks, network turnover, and three types of community involvement and (b) the sequential nature of these changes over time. METHOD: We use three waves of nationally representative data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project, collected from 2005/2006 to 2015/2016. Respondents were between the ages of 67 and 95 at follow-up. Types of changes in their social connectedness between the two successive 5-year periods are compared to discern over-time change patterns. RESULTS: Analyses reveal stability or growth in the sizes of most older adults' social networks, their access to non-kin ties, network expansiveness, as well as several forms of community involvement. Most older adults experienced turnover within their networks, but losses and additions usually offset each other, resulting in generally stable network size and structural features. Moreover, when older adults reported decreases (increases) in a given form of social connectedness during the first half of the study period, these changes were typically followed by countervailing increases (decreases) over the subsequent 5-year period. This general pattern holds for both network and community connectedness. DISCUSSION: There is an overwhelming tendency toward either maintaining or rebalancing previous structures and levels of both personal network connectedness and community involvement. This results in overall homeostasis. We close by discussing the need for a unifying theoretical framework that can explain these patterns.

Local Ties in the Social Networks of Older Adults.

OBJECTIVES: Family members and friends who live nearby may be especially well-positioned to provide social support and companionship for community-residing older adults, but prior research has not examined the distribution and characteristics of local ties in older adults' networks. We hypothesize that local ties are newer, more frequently accessed, and more embedded in the network, and that social disadvantage and neighborhood conditions structure older adults' access to local ties. METHODS: We use egocentric network data from 15,137 alters named by 3,735 older adults in Wave 3 of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP). We conduct dyadic analysis to compare characteristics of local and nonlocal ties. Logistic regression models estimate how personal and neighborhood characteristics are associated with naming local kin and local non-kin ties. RESULTS: Nearly half of the older adults named at least one local network tie, and about 60% of these local ties are non-kin. Local ties are newer, frequently accessed, and highly embedded in older adults' networks. Local kin ties are most common among socially disadvantaged older adults. Local non-kin ties are most common among white older adults and those who live in areas with high levels of collective efficacy, although local non-kin ties are also associated with residence in high-poverty neighborhoods. DISCUSSION: Local ties may bring unique benefits for community-residing older adults, but their availability is likely structured by residential mobility, neighborhood context, disparities in resources, and support needs. Future research should consider their implications for health and well-being.

Tracking Egocentric Social Network Change Across Three Rounds of National Survey Data.

BACKGROUND: The National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) has collected 3 rounds of data on older adults' egocentric social networks. We describe the structure of network data collection for different components of the sample and the data that are available for those groups. We also describe survey techniques that were used to track specific personnel changes that occurred within respondents' networks during the 10-year study period. METHOD: Descriptive statistics are presented for measures of network size, composition, and internal structure at all 3 rounds, respondent-level summary measures of change in these characteristics between and across rounds, and measures of change associated with the loss and addition of network members across Rounds 1, 2, and 3. Procedures that were used to clean the network change data are also explained. RESULTS: The NSHAP network change module provides reliable information about specific changes that occurred within respondents' confidant networks. For returning baseline respondents, there is considerable overlap with respect to which confidants are named in successive rosters, but the norm is for Round 3 networks to be composed primarily of new confidants. DISCUSSION: These data provide new insights into the dynamic nature of networks in later life. Data limitations, and directions for future research, are discussed.

Neighborhood Disorder and Distress in Real Time: Evidence from a Smartphone-Based Study of Older Adults.

Socioeconomic disadvantage and disorder in the residential neighborhood have been linked to multiple health risks, but less is known about the relevance of other spaces of daily life. This article considers whether disadvantage and disorder in the immediate context-within or outside of the residential neighborhood-is associated with physiological symptoms indicative of stress and strain. We use data from a study of 61 older adults in four New York City neighborhoods. Participants carried smartphones to capture GPS locations and ecological momentary assessments during the study week. We find that instantaneous exposure to disorder is associated with momentary spikes in pain and fatigue. This is not explained by cumulative exposure to disorder or concurrent stress or fear. Rather, disordered spaces may be physically and cognitively taxing for older adults in real time. We urge further research on short- and long-term health consequences of activity spaces.

Linked Lives in Double Jeopardy: Child Incarceration and Maternal Health at Midlife.

Parents' relationships with their adult children play an important role in shaping mid and later life health. While these relationships are often sources of support, stressors in the lives of children can compromise parents' health as they age. I consider that a child's incarceration is also a stressor that could imperil parents' health through social, emotional, and economic strains that parents may experience as a result. Using data on 3,159 mothers from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 in a series of lagged dependent variable regression models, I find that a child's incarceration is associated with declines in maternal health between ages 40 and 50. These associations are largest for mothers who had grandchildren by their child at the time of the child's incarceration. I close by discussing the implications of child incarceration for intergenerational ties and other social determinants of midlife health.

Age-Standardized Mortality of Persons on Probation, in Jail, or in State Prison and the General Population, 2001-2012.

OBJECTIVES: The number of adults in the United States being held on probation-persons convicted of crimes and serving their sentence in the community rather than in a correctional facility-approached 4 million at the end of 2016 and continues to grow, yet little is known about the health and well-being of this population. We compared the standardized mortality ratios of persons on probation in the United States with persons in jail, persons in state prison, and the general US population. METHODS: We used administrative data from 2001-2012 from the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention WONDER database and indirect standardization techniques to compare the mortality rates of persons on probation in 15 states with the mortality rates of persons in jail, persons in state prison, and the general US population. We applied the age-specific mortality rates of 3 populations (general US population, persons in jail, and persons in state prison) to the age distribution of persons on probation to estimate standardized mortality ratios. RESULTS: Persons on probation died at a rate 3.42 times higher than persons in jail, 2.81 times higher than persons in state prison, and 2.10 times higher than the general US population, after standardizing the age distribution of persons on probation relative to the other 3 groups. CONCLUSIONS: Public health interventions should target persons on probation, who have received less attention from the public health community than persons serving sentences in jails and prisons.

Social Disadvantage and Instability in Older Adults' Ties to Their Adult Children.

OBJECTIVE: We examine whether racial and socioeconomic factors influence older adults' likelihood of experiencing instability in their social network ties with their adult children. BACKGROUND: Recent work shows that socially disadvantaged older adults' social networks are more unstable and exhibit higher rates of turnover, perhaps due to greater exposure to broader social-environmental instability. We consider whether this network instability applies to older adults' ties with their adult children, which are often the closest and most reliable social ties in later life. METHODS: We use two waves of data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (N=1,456), a nationally representative, longitudinal study of older Americans. Through a series of multivariate regression models, we examine how race and education are associated with how frequently older adults reported being in contact with child network members, and how likely older adults were to stop naming their children as network members over time. RESULTS: African American and less educated individuals reported significantly more frequent contact with their adult child network members than did whites and more educated individuals. Nevertheless, these populations were also more likely to stop naming their children as network confidants over time. CONCLUSION: African American and less educated older adults are at greater risk of losing access to the supports and other resources that are often provided by adult children, or of not being able to consistently draw on them as they age, despite the fact that these ties demonstrate greater potential for support exchange at baseline.

All in the family: The link between kin network bridging and cardiovascular risk among older adults.

While considerable work has examined the association between social relationships and health, most of this research focuses on the relevance of social network composition and the quality of dyadic ties. In this study, I consider how the social network structure of ties among older adults' close family members may affect cardiovascular health in later life. Using data from 938 older adults that participated in Waves 1 and 2 of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), I test whether older adults who occupy bridging positions among otherwise disconnected or poorly connected kin in their personal social network are more likely to present elevated levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a biomarker for cardiovascular risk. Results indicate that occupying a bridging position among family members is significantly associated with elevated CRP. This effect is unique to bridging kin network members. These findings suggest that ties among one's closest kin may generate important resources and norms that influence older adults' health, such that bridging kin network members may compromise physical wellbeing. I discuss these results in the context of prior work on social support, family solidarity, and health in later life.

Social network bridging potential and the use of complementary and alternative medicine in later life.

The use of complementary/alternative medicine (CAM) is typically modeled as a function of individual health beliefs, including changes in perceptions of conventional medicine, an orientation toward more holistic care, and increasing patient involvement in health care decision-making. Expanding on research that shows that health-related behavior is shaped by social networks, this paper examines the possibility that CAM usage is partly a function of individuals' social network structure. We argue that people are more likely to adopt CAM when they function as bridges between network members who are otherwise not (or poorly) connected to each other. This circumstance not only provides individuals with access to a wider range of information about treatment options, it also reduces the risk of sanctioning by network members if one deviates from conventional forms of treatment. We test this idea using data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), a nationally representative study of older Americans. Analyses of egocentric social network data show that older adults with bridging potential in their networks are significantly more likely to engage in a greater number of types of CAM. We close by discussing alternative explanations of these findings and their potential implications for research on CAM usage.

Bioregulatory systems medicine: an innovative approach to integrating the science of molecular networks, inflammation, and systems biology with the patient's autoregulatory capacity?

Bioregulatory systems medicine (BrSM) is a paradigm that aims to advance current medical practices. The basic scientific and clinical tenets of this approach embrace an interconnected picture of human health, supported largely by recent advances in systems biology and genomics, and focus on the implications of multi-scale interconnectivity for improving therapeutic approaches to disease. This article introduces the formal incorporation of these scientific and clinical elements into a cohesive theoretical model of the BrSM approach. The authors review this integrated body of knowledge and discuss how the emergent conceptual model offers the medical field a new avenue for extending the armamentarium of current treatment and healthcare, with the ultimate goal of improving population health.

Concept mapping and network analysis: an analytic approach to measure ties among constructs.

Group concept mapping is a mixed-methods approach that helps a group visually represent its ideas on a topic of interest through a series of related maps. The maps and additional graphics are useful for planning, evaluation and theory development. Group concept maps are typically described, interpreted and utilized through points, clusters and distances, and the implications of these features in understanding how constructs relate to one another. This paper focuses on the application of network analysis to group concept mapping to quantify the strength and directionality of relationships among clusters. The authors outline the steps of this analysis, and illustrate its practical use through an organizational strategic planning example. Additional benefits of this analysis to evaluation projects are also discussed, supporting the overall utility of this supplemental technique to the standard concept mapping methodology.