Age, time period, and birth cohort differences in self-esteem: Reexamining a cohort-sequential longitudinal study.

Abstract In recent years many studies have shown that adults with more positive self-perceptions of aging (SPA) increase their likelihood of aging healthily. Other studies have documented historical changes in individual resources and contextual conditions associated with aging. We explored how these historical changes are reflected in birth-cohort differences in aging trajectories of two aspects of SPA – viewing aging as ongoing development or as increasing physical losses. Using large-scale cohort-sequential data assessed across 21 years (N ≈ 19,000), the analyses modeled birth-cohort differences in aging trajectories of SPA from 40 to 85 years of age. The results illustrated differential birth-cohort differences: Later-born cohorts may experience more potential for ongoing development with advancing age than earlier-born cohorts. However, later-born cohorts seem to view their own aging as more negative than earlier-born cohorts during their early forties but may associate their aging less with physical losses after the age of fifty.

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Longitudinal birth cohort study finds that life-course frailty associates with later-life heart size and function

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-85435-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Constantin-Cristian Topriceanu ◽

James C. Moon ◽

Rebecca Hardy ◽

Nishi Chaturvedi ◽

Alun D. Hughes ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life Course ◽

Birth Cohort ◽

Left Ventricular ◽

Step Change ◽

Deficit Accumulation ◽

Cardiac Phenotype ◽

Time Period ◽

Time Periods ◽

The Life Course ◽

Health Deficit

AbstractA frailty index (FI) counts health deficit accumulation. Besides traditional risk factors, it is unknown whether the health deficit burden is related to the appearance of cardiovascular disease. In order to answer this question, the same multidimensional FI looking at 45-health deficits was serially calculated per participant at 4 time periods (0–16, 19–44, 45–54 and 60–64 years) using data from the 1946 Medical Research Council (MRC) British National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD)—the world’s longest running longitudinal birth cohort with continuous follow-up. From these the mean and total FI for the life-course, and the step change in deficit accumulation from one time period to another was derived. Echocardiographic data at 60–64 years provided: ejection fraction (EF), left ventricular mass indexed to body surface area (LVmassi, BSA), myocardial contraction fraction indexed to BSA (MCFi) and E/e′. Generalized linear models assessed the association between FIs and echocardiographic parameters after adjustment for relevant covariates. 1375 participants were included. For each single new deficit accumulated at any one of the 4 time periods, LVmassi increased by 0.91–1.44% (p < 0.013), while MCFi decreased by 0.6–1.02% (p < 0.05). A unit increase in FI at age 45–54 and 60–64, decreased EF by 11–12% (p < 0.013). A single health deficit step change occurring between 60 and 64 years and one of the earlier time periods, translated into higher odds (2.1–78.5, p < 0.020) of elevated LV filling pressure. Thus, the accumulation of health deficits at any time period of the life-course associates with a maladaptive cardiac phenotype in older age, dominated by myocardial hypertrophy and poorer function.

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Nonparental Caregivers, Parents, and Early Academic Achievement Among Children from Latino/a Immigrant Households

Sociological Perspectives ◽

10.1177/0731121419851093 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 62 (6) ◽

pp. 884-906

Author(s):

Lilla K. Pivnick

Keyword(s):

Academic Achievement ◽

Social Capital ◽

Early Childhood ◽

Longitudinal Study ◽

Birth Cohort ◽

Math Achievement ◽

Academic Skills ◽

Ecological Systems ◽

Regression Analyses ◽

Early Academic Achievement

Drawing on ecological systems and social capital perspectives, this study uses the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Birth Cohort to investigate links between early nonparental caregiver beliefs about early academic skills and children’s math and reading achievement in kindergarten with special attention to the children from Latino/a immigrant households. Regression analyses revealed that nonparental caregiver beliefs were associated with academic achievement at kindergarten entry and that types of alignment or misalignment between nonparental caregiver and parental beliefs were differentially associated with math achievement but not reading. Notably, the association between nonparental caregiver beliefs and children’s academic achievement was more consequential for children from Latino/a immigrant households. Results suggest that having nonparental caregivers with low early academic skills beliefs may be especially detrimental for children from Latino/a immigrant households.

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