ABSTRACT

Critical period, social mobility, and social accumulation are three hypotheses that may explain how educational mobility impacts health. Thus far, there is little evidence on how these processes are associated with biological aging as measured by telomere length. Using cross-sectional data from the 2008 Health and Retirement Study, we examined the association between educational mobility (parental education and contemporaneous education) and telomere length. The final model is adjusted for sociodemographic factors and socioeconomic status, childhood adversity, and health behaviors/risk factors, as well as depressive symptoms. A total of 1,894 participants were included in the main analyses. High parental education was associated with longer telomere length in a fully adjusted model (B = 0.03, CI [0.002,0.07]). Downwardly mobile individuals (high parental education and low contemporaneous education) had longer telomere length compared to stably low individuals in a fully adjusted model (B = 0.05, CI [0.004,0.09]). There was support for the critical period hypothesis and partial support for the change hypothesis. There was no evidence to support the social accumulation hypothesis. Prospective studies are needed to understand the mechanism that can help further explain the association between educational mobility and telomere length.

摘要

关键时期、社会流动性和社会积累是可以解释教育流动性如何影响健康的三个假设。到目前为止，几乎没有证据表明这些过程如何与通过端粒长度测量的生物衰老相关联。使用 2008 年健康与退休研究的横断面数据，我们检查了教育流动性（父母教育和同期教育）与端粒长度之间的关联。最终模型针对社会人口因素和社会经济地位、童年逆境、健康行为/风险因素以及抑郁症状进行了调整。共有 1,894 名参与者被纳入主要分析。在完全调整的模型中，高父母教育与较长的端粒长度相关（B = 0.03，CI [0.002,0.07]）。在完全调整的模型中，与稳定低的个体相比，向下流动的个体（高父母教育和低同期教育）具有更长的端粒长度（B = 0.05，CI [0.004,0.09]）。关键时期假说得到支持，变化假说得到部分支持。没有证据支持社会积累假说。需要进行前瞻性研究来了解有助于进一步解释教育流动性与端粒长度之间关联的机制。没有证据支持社会积累假说。需要进行前瞻性研究来了解有助于进一步解释教育流动性与端粒长度之间关联的机制。没有证据支持社会积累假说。需要进行前瞻性研究来了解有助于进一步解释教育流动性与端粒长度之间关联的机制。