The association between adult mortality risk and family history of longevity: the moderating effects of socioeconomic status

Update Item Information
Publication Type pre-print
School or College College of Social & Behavioral Science
Department Family & Consumer Studies
Creator Smith, Ken R.
Other Author Temby, O. F.
Title The association between adult mortality risk and family history of longevity: the moderating effects of socioeconomic status
Date 2014-01-01
Description Studies consistently show that increasing levels of socioeconomic status (SES) and having a familial history of longevity reduce the risk of mortality. But do these two variables interact, such that individuals with lower levels of SES, for example, may experience an attenuated longevity penalty by virtue of having long-lived relatives? This article examines this interaction by analysing survival past age 40 based on data from the Utah Population Database on an extinct cohort of men born from the years 1840 to 1909. Cox proportional hazards regression and logistic regression are used to test for the main and interaction mortality effects of SES and familial excess longevity (FEL), a summary measure of an individual's history of longevity among his or her relatives. This research finds that the mortality hazard rate for men in the top 15th percentile of occupational status decreases more as FEL increases than it does among men in the bottom 15th percentile. In addition, the mortality hazard rate among farmers decreases more as FEL increases than it does for non-farmers. With a strong family history of longevity as a proxy for a genetic predisposition, this research suggests that a gene-environment interaction occurs whereby the benefits of familial excess longevity are more available to those who have occupations with more autonomy and greater economic resources and/or opportunities for physical activity.
Type Text
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Volume 46
Issue 6
First Page 703
Last Page 716
Language eng
Bibliographic Citation Temby, O. F., & Smith, K. R. (2014). The association between adult mortality risk and family history of longevity: the moderating effects of socioeconomic status. Journal of Biosocial Science, 46(6), 703-16.
Rights Management (c) Cambridge University Press http://www.cambridge.org/ Permission granted by Cambridge University Press for non-commercial, personal use only.
Format Medium application/pdf
Format Extent 157,115 bytes
Identifier uspace,19081
ARK ark:/87278/s6h73r0t
Setname ir_uspace
ID 713342
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6h73r0t
Back to Search Results