A reminder that all participants need to register in order to participate in the fall seminar series. The link to the registration is here: https://osu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwqc-6hqj8pHNNLvJoQiEIkYeLs8tuoakuR
Dr. Kenneth Ferraro, Purdue University, Distinguished Professor of Sociology
Title of Talk: Early Social Origins of Biological Risks for Men and Women in Later Life: Indelible Insults?
Abstract:
We investigate whether childhood exposures influence adult chronic inflammation and mortality risk via adult health characteristics and socioeconomic status (SES), and whether gender moderates these relationships. Analyzing a longitudinal national sample of 9,310 men and women aged 51 and older, we found that childhood SES, parental behaviors, and adolescent behaviors were associated with adult chronic inflammation via health characteristics and SES in adulthood. The process of disadvantage initiated by low childhood SES (i.e., adult health risk factors, socioeconomic disadvantage, and chronic inflammation) subsequently raised mortality risk. In addition, gender moderated the mediating influence of childhood SES via unhealthy behaviors and parental behaviors via adult SES. Demonstrating how social forces shape biological health through multiple mechanisms informs health policies by identifying multiple points of intervention in an effort to reduce the lasting consequences of childhood disadvantage.
