Early-Life Parental Affection, Social Relationships in Adulthood, and Later-Life Cognitive Function.

Objective: Although research has demonstrated the long-term health consequences of childhood adversities, less is known about the long-term impact of positive childhood experiences, such as parental affection.

Method: Using longitudinal data (1995-2014) from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study, we analyze structural equation models estimating direct and indirect pathways from early-life parental affection to changes in later-life cognitive function through relationship quality in adulthood among Black and White older adults ( = 1983).

Results: Analyses revealed significant indirect effects of parental affection on better cognitive function through higher levels of social support (both average social support and family social support) in adulthood in the full sample and among Black respondents.

Disparities in the Life Course Origins of Dual Functionality.

Although research has identified how stressors are related to either physical or cognitive function in later life, we bridge these literatures by examining dual functionality (neither physical nor cognitive impairment) among Black, White, and Hispanic adults. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (2006-2016), we investigated whether stressors and resources during childhood and adulthood are related to functional loss at baseline and longitudinally. Analyses revealed that lifetime trauma was associated with dual functionality impairment at baseline, but childhood stressors and everyday discrimination were prospectively associated with loss of dual functionality.

Religious Involvement and Cognitive Function Among White, Black, and Hispanic Older Adults.

We examined whether religious involvement was associated with cognitive function among older adults in the 2006-2020 waves of the Health and Retirement Study. Using growth curve analysis, we found the association between religious involvement and cognition varied by facet of religious involvement and race and Hispanic ethnicity. Attending religious services with friends was associated with higher initial levels of cognitive function (b = 0.

Educational Inequalities in Dual-Function Life Expectancy.

Objectives: This study investigates educational inequalities in dual functionality, a new concept that captures a combination of physical and cognitive functioning, both of which are important for independent living and quality of life.

Methods: Using data from the Health and Retirement Study and the National Health Interview Survey Linked Mortality Files, we define a measure of dual functionality based on the absence of limitations in activities of daily living and dementia. We estimate age-graded dual-function rates among adults 65+ and age-65 dual-function life expectancy across levels of education stratified by gender.

Social connectedness, functional capacity, and longevity: A focus on positive relations with others.

Rationale: A large literature links social connectedness to health, but there is growing recognition of considerable nuance in the ways social connectedness is defined, assessed, and associated with health.

Objective: This study centers on positive relations with others - a measure derived from philosophical notions of the components of a "good life" - and the extent to which it predicts functional limitations and mortality using data from the national, longitudinal Mid-Life in the United States (MIDUS) study. We also assess whether these associations are independent of two common measures of social connectedness: social integration and social support.

A Time of Healing: Can Social Engagement After Bereavement Reduce Trajectories of Depression After the Death of a Child?

Objectives: We work from a stress and life-course perspective to examine the mental health of parents who experienced the death of their child. We examine whether mental health eventually returns to pre-bereavement levels and how social engagement after bereavement may shape the recovery process of depressive symptoms.

Methods: We analyze discontinuous growth curve models to assess the association between a child's death and trajectories of parents' depressive symptoms from the 1998-2016 Health and Retirement Study.

Dual Functionality in Later Life.

Gerontologists have long shown interest in both longevity and quality of life during later life, but considerable debate has ensued as scholars sought to integrate the two. Drawing from research on the topics of exceptional longevity, successful aging, and active life expectancy, we propose the concept of dual functionality to examine how humans reach advanced ages while maintaining physical and cognitive function. Dual functionality refers to being free of both physical and cognitive impairment.

Racial-Ethnic Disparities in Dual-Function Life Expectancy.

Background: This study develops a new concept, dual functionality, that integrates physical and cognitive function. We use the concept to define a measure of dual-function life expectancy (2FLE) and assess racial-ethnic inequalities in aging.

Methods: Drawing on data from the National Health Interview Survey Linked Mortality Files and the Health and Retirement Study, we define dual functionality as having no limitations in activities of daily living and being free of dementia.

Matters of the Heart: Childhood Maltreatment, Religious Transitions, and Cardiovascular-Related Problems over the Life Course.

Objectives: Childhood maltreatment is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular-related problems, the leading cause of death in the United States. Drawing from cumulative inequality theory, this study considers whether transitions in religious attendance moderate the deleterious impact of childhood maltreatment on long-term cardiovascular risk.

Methods: We utilize over 35 years of prospective panel data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth from the United States (1979-2015).

Subjective Memory Decline Predicts Incident Cognitive Impairment Among White-But Not Black or Hispanic-Older Adults.

Background And Objectives: This study investigates whether subjective memory decline (SMD) in a racially diverse sample of older adults without cognitive impairment at baseline is associated with incident cognitive impairment during a 12-year follow-up period.

Research Design And Methods: With panel data from a national sample (N = 9,244) of cognitively intact Black, White, and Hispanic Americans 65 years or older in 2004, we examine if SMD is associated with the loss of normal cognition by 2016. Cognitive status was assessed every 2 years with a modified version of the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status to identify the transition from normal cognition to cognitive impairment.

Is Marital Quality Related to Physical Activity Across the Life Course for Men and Women?

Objectives: Although physical activity is linked to multiple health outcomes, a majority of Americans do not meet physical activity guidelines, often with precipitous declines among older adults. Marital quality is a less-explored, but important, factor that may influence physical activity, as spouses often influence each other's health behaviors.

Methods: We use nationally representative panel data to investigate whether positive and negative dimensions of marital quality influence physical activity, and whether age and gender moderate these relationships.

Childhood Stressors, Relationship Quality, and Cognitive Health in Later Life.

Objectives: The rising prevalence of cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease, and related disorders signals the need for a better understanding of how social factors may affect cognitive health for millions of Americans. Drawing from cumulative inequality theory, we aim to understand the implications of a stressful childhood on social relationships and cognitive health in later life.

Methods: This study utilizes longitudinal data (2006-2016) from the Health and Retirement Study to examine pathways, both direct and indirect through social relationships in adulthood, from childhood stressors to cognitive health trajectories over time.

Sibling Deaths, Racial/Ethnic Disadvantage, and Dementia in Later Life.

Objectives: Sibling loss is understudied in the bereavement and health literature. The present study considers whether experiencing the death of siblings in mid-to-late life is associated with subsequent dementia risk and how differential exposure to sibling losses by race/ethnicity may contribute to racial/ethnic disparities in dementia risk.

Methods: We use discrete-time hazard regression models, a formal mediation test, and a counterfactual simulation to reveal how sibling loss in mid-to-late life affects dementia incidence and whether unequal exposures by race/ethnicity mediate the racial/ethnic disparities in dementia.

Do Early-Life Social, Behavioral, and Health Exposures Increase Later-Life Arthritis Incidence?

Objectives: This study investigates direct and indirect influences of childhood social, behavioral, and health exposures on later-life osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis development.

Methods: Drawing from cumulative inequality theory and six waves of the Health and Retirement Study (2004-2014), we estimate structural equation modeling-based discrete-time survival analysis of the association between six childhood exposure domains and both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis incidence for men ( = 2720) and women ( = 2974). Using the delta method to test for mediation, we examine indirect effects via selected health-related risks and resources.

Gaining Faith, Losing Faith: How Education Shapes the Relationship between Religious Transitions and Later Depression.

Using the life course perspective, we assess the "resources" and "risks" to mental health associated with transitions in religious attendance between early life and midlife and how this process may be influenced by education. Drawing on over 35 years of prospective panel data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth, baseline models suggest that stable, frequent attendance accumulated between adolescence to midlife and increases to frequent attendance by adulthood are associated with the lowest depression relative to consistent nonattenders. Individuals who declined in their religious participation report higher depression.

Using Kern's 6-Step Approach to Integrate Health Systems Science Curricula Into Medical Education.

The term "health systems science" (HSS) has recently emerged as a unifying label for competencies in health care delivery and in population and community health. Despite strong evidence that HSS competencies are needed in the current and future health care workforce, heretofore the integration of HSS into medical education has been slow or fragmented-due, in part, to a lack of evidence that these curricula improve education or population outcomes. The recent COVID-19 pandemic and the national reckoning with racial inequities in the United States further highlight the time-sensitive imperative to integrate HSS content across the medical education continuum.

Lost Touch? Implications of Physical Touch for Physical Health.

Objectives: Growing research on the impact of physical touch on health has revealed links to lower blood pressure, higher oxytocin levels, and better sleep, but links to inflammation have not been fully explored. Physical touch may also buffer stress, underscoring its importance during the stressful time of living in the COVID-19 global pandemic-a time that has substantially limited social interactions and during which physical touch has been specifically advised against.

Method: We analyze nationally representative longitudinal data on older adults (N = 1,124) from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project using cross-lagged path models.

Exacerbating Inequalities: Social Networks, Racial/Ethnic Disparities, and the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States.

Objectives: The disruption and contraction of older adults' social networks are among the less discussed consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our objective was to provide an evidence-based commentary on racial/ethnic disparities in social network resources and draw attention to the ways in which disasters differentially affect social networks, with meaningful insight for the ongoing pandemic.

Methods: We draw upon prior research on social networks and past natural disasters to identify major areas of network inequality.

Influence of Social Connections on Smoking Behavior across the Life Course.

Although we know much about demographic patterns of smoking, we know less about people's explanations for when, how and why they avoid, develop, or alter smoking habits and how these explanations are linked to social connections across the life course. We analyze data from in-depth interviews with 60 adults aged 25-89 from a large southwestern U.S.

From Modules to MOOCs: Application of the Six-Step Approach to Online Curriculum Development for Medical Education.

Online curricula can make high-quality health professions education accessible in virtually any setting. They can enhance teaching and learning by both standardizing curricular resources and individualizing curricular experiences. Despite growing demand for and institutional interest in online curricula for medical education, many medical educators lack a framework for online curriculum development.

A Longitudinal Examination of the Impact of Major Life Events on Physical Activity.

Background: Despite promotion of physical activity guidelines, less than one third of U.S. adults are sufficiently active and an even larger number of older adults fail to meet guidelines.

Do Support and Strain With Adult Children Affect Mothers' and Fathers' Physical Activity?

Physical activity is central to health. Parents tend to have lower levels of physical activity than the childless, however, little is known about how adult child-parent relationship quality matters for mothers' and fathers' physical activity trajectories. Nationally representative panel data from the Americans' Changing Lives survey (1986-2012) are used to analyze multilevel-ordered logistic regression models.

Family Relationships and Well-Being.

Family relationships are enduring and consequential for well-being across the life course. We discuss several types of family relationships-marital, intergenerational, and sibling ties-that have an important influence on well-being. We highlight the quality of family relationships as well as diversity of family relationships in explaining their impact on well-being across the adult life course.