Connor M. Sheehan

Childhood Adversities and Adult Cardiometabolic Health: Does the Quantity, Timing, and Type of Adversity Matter?

Objective: Adverse events in childhood can indelibly influence adult health. While evidence for this association has mounted, a fundamental set of questions about how to operationalize adverse events has been understudied. Method: We used data from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States to examine how quantity, timing, and types of adverse events in childhood are associated with adult cardiometabolic health. Results: The best-fitting specification of quantity of events was a linear measure reflecting a dose–response relationship. Timing of event mattered less than repeated exposure to events. Regarding the type of event, academic interruptions and sexual/physical abuse were most important. Adverse childhood events elevated the risk of diabetes and obesity similarly for men and women but had a greater impact on women’s risk of heart disease. Discussion: Findings demonstrate the insights that can be gleaned about the early-life origins of adult health by examining operationalization of childhood exposures.

Gender differences in the presence of drugs in violent deaths

AIMS To investigate differences in the presence of drugs, by gender, when considering deaths attributable to homicides and suicides. DESIGN Logistic regression analysis of mortality data collected by the Colorado Violent Death Reporting System. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING A total of 5791 Colorado decedents who died of violent causes from 2004 to 2009. MEASUREMENT Forensic pathologist autopsy data on drug presence at time of death, coded as present, not present or missing. FINDINGS Postmortem presence of drugs is associated strongly with the specific cause of violent death. Compared with suicide decedents, homicide decedents are significantly more likely to test positive for amphetamines [odds ratio (OR): 1.79; confidence interval (CI): 1.34, 2.39], marijuana (OR: 2.03; CI: 1.60, 2.58) and cocaine (OR: 2.60; CI: 2.04, 3.31), and are less likely to test positive for opiates (OR: 0.27; CI: 0.18, 0.39) and antidepressants (OR: 0.17; CI: 0.10, 0.28). When other drugs are controlled for the influence of alcohol is abated dramatically. The patterns of drug prevalence associated with homicide (particularly marijuana) are stronger among males; the patterns of drug prevalence associated with suicide are stronger among females. CONCLUSIONS Suicide and homicide decedents are characterized by varying patterns of licit and illicit drug use that differ by gender. Drugs associated with homicide (marijuana, cocaine and amphetamines) are stronger among males, while drugs associated with suicide are stronger among females (antidepressants and opiates). Taking these differences into consideration may allow for targeted interventions to reduce violent deaths.

Adult Children’s Education and Parents’ Functional Limitations in Mexico

This article asks how adult children’s education influences older parents’ physical health in Mexico, a context where older adults often lack access to institutional resources and rely on kin, primarily children, as a main source of support. Using logistic and negative binomial regression models and data from the first wave of the Mexican Health and Aging Study (N = 9,661), we find that parents whose children all completed high school are less likely to report any functional limitations as well as fewer limitations compared to parents with no children who completed high school. This association remains significant even after accounting for parent and offspring-level characteristics, including parents’ income that accounts for children’s financial transfers to parents. Future research should aim to understand the mechanisms that explain the association between adult children’s education and changes to parents’ health over time.

Migration, Business Formation, and the Informal Economy in Urban Mexico

Although the informal economy has grown rapidly in several developing nations, and migration and informality may be related to similar types of credit constraints and market failures, previous research has not systematically attempted to identify if migrant households are more likely to start informal and formal businesses alike and if this association varies across local contexts. We examine the relationship between prior US migration and the creation of both formal and informal businesses in urban Mexico using several criteria to indirectly assess sector location. We use data from 56 communities from the Mexican Migration Project to estimate multilevel survival and nonmultilevel competing risk models predicting the likelihood of informal, formal, and no business formation. The recent return migration of the household head is strongly associated with informal business creation, particularly in economically dynamic areas. On the other hand, migrants are only marginally more likely to start formal businesses in highly economically dynamic sending areas.

Postmortem Presence of Drugs and Method of Violent Suicide

The link between substance use and suicide is well established. However, little research analyzes how substance use is related to the method of suicide. This article analyzes how specific drugs are associated with method of suicide, a critical topic because drug use bears on the etiology of suicide and may lead to policies aimed at deterring suicide. We use the Colorado Violent Death Reporting System and logistic regression to examine postmortem presence of drugs among 3,389 hanging and firearm suicides in Colorado from 2004 to 2009. Net of demographic controls, we find that opiates are positively associated with firearms (odds ratio [OR] = 1.92, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [1.27, 2.86]) while antidepressants are positively associated with hanging (OR = 1.45, 95% CI = [1.04, 2.03]). For cocaine and opiates, the association between drug use and violent method vary by educational attainment. Importantly, knowledge of the presence and type of specific drug is strongly associated with the method of suicide.

Long-term neighborhood poverty trajectories and obesity in a sample of california mothers

Abstract Neighborhoods (and people) are not static, and are instead shaped by dynamic long‐term processes of change (and mobility). Using the Geographic Research on Wellbeing survey, a population‐based sample of 2339 Californian mothers, we characterize then investigate how long‐term latent neighborhood poverty trajectories predict the likelihood of obesity, taking into account short‐term individual residential mobility. We find that, net of individual and neighborhood‐level controls, living in or moving to tracts that experienced long‐term low poverty was associated with lower odds of being obese relative to living in tracts characterized by long‐term high poverty. HighlightsWe estimate the influence of long‐term neighborhood poverty on obesity.We also take into account short‐term residential mobility.Mothers who live in long‐term poor neighborhoods have higher odds of obesity.Mothers who live in long‐term low poverty neighborhoods have lower odds of obesity.Future research should consider using long‐term measures of neighborhood factors.

Does the Body Forget? Adult Health, Life Course Dynamics, and Social Change

Despite the growing application of a life course framework to understand the origins of adult health, research in this area faces important challenges that warrant consideration. Three challenges are considered here. First, how should life course researchers conceptually define health? We discuss the usefulness of a population health perspective where life course exposures give rise to a “portfolio” of health outcomes. Second, we argue that life course frameworks would be enriched by being more biologically informed and illustrate how life course exposures influence health through developmental and aging processes. Finally, we argue that life course research on adult health must attend more explicitly to the historical context to better understand the dynamics of life course influences on adult health. Dramatic changes have occurred across current birth cohorts represented in the adult population in their prenatal, childhood and adult exposures, yet these changes are rarely central in life course studies of health.

A broad sense measure of health and its properties in the HRS

Measuring health is a crucial component of much social research. Two approaches are typical. Health may be measured via either narrowly targeted questions about aspects of disability or chronic conditions. Alternatively, individuals may be asked to self-report their health in some global sense. Both approaches have potential drawbacks. We consider a broad sense measure of health constructed by items from five different batteries related to physical and mental wellbeing. We demonstrate that this measure predicts time until death better than self-reported health, especially for females. Although this measure has promise, we argue that future surveys on health would benefit from the inclusion of additional items focusing on issues salient to younger individuals or other non-disabled respondents.