TY - JOUR T1 - Longitudinal analysis of psychosocial stressors and body mass index in middle-aged and older adults in the United States. JF - Journal of Gerontology: Series B Y1 - 2021 A1 - Cuevas, Adolfo G A1 - Greatorex-Voith, Siobhan A1 - Shervin Assari A1 - Slopen, Natalie A1 - Economos, Christina D KW - BMI KW - middle-aged KW - Older Adults KW - Psychosocial stress AB -

OBJECTIVE: Psychosocial stress may be a risk factor for obesity and overweight in middle-aged and older adults. However, research on psychosocial stress and excess body weight has typically been cross-sectional and focused on single stressors.

METHODS: Using three waves of data from the Health and Retirement Study, we conducted longitudinal analyses to assess associations between five psychosocial stressors-individually and in combination-and body mass index (BMI), adjusting for sociodemographic factors, alcohol use, and smoking history. We tested interaction effects between race and gender with stressors on BMI.

RESULTS: A total of 3,956 participants were included in the main analyses. Most participants were White (88.04%) and more than half were female (60.39%). Perceived discrimination, financial stress, and relationship stress were positively associated with BMI. A greater cumulative stress burden was associated with higher BMI. In stratified analyses, greater financial stress was associated with higher BMI among White participants, whereas greater neighborhood stress was associated with lower BMI among Black participants. Greater relationship stress, financial stress, cumulative high-stress, and overall cumulative stress burden were associated with higher BMI for women, but not men.

DISCUSSIONS: Different sources of stress may be risk factors to weight gain and impact BMI in adults. White and female adults may be more susceptible to the obesogenic effects of stressors. Reducing exposure to stress may help reduce the burden of high BMI among middle-aged and older adults.

VL - 76 IS - 8 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Educational mobility and telomere length in middle-aged and older adults: testing three alternative hypotheses. JF - Biodemography and Social Biology Y1 - 2020 A1 - Cuevas, Adolfo G A1 - Greatorex-Voith, Siobhan A1 - Abuelezam, Nadia A1 - Eckert, Natalie A1 - Shervin Assari KW - Education KW - social mobility KW - Telomere length AB -

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.

VL - 66 IS - 3-4 ER -