Dayoung Bae

Social consequences of early socioeconomic adversity and youth BMI trajectories: gender and race/ethnicity differences.

The present study investigated the mediating effects of adolescent BMI trajectories on socioeconomic continuity over the early life course using a nationally representative sample of 11,075 respondents. This study considered both the initial severity as well as change over time in BMI as psycho-physiological mediators. Consistent with the life course pathway model and the cumulative advantage and disadvantage principle, the results suggested that early socioeconomic adversity is associated with youth BMI trajectories over time, which in turn, impair young adult socioeconomic attainment. The results also revealed important gender and racial/ethnic differences in the hypothesized associations. These findings elucidate how early adversity exerts an enduring long-term influence on social attainment in young adulthood. Further, the findings suggest that effective obesity intervention and prevention programs should focus not only on the severity of obesity but also on growth in BMI over the early years.

Explaining the Association between Early Adversity and Young Adults’ Diabetes Outcomes: Physiological, Psychological, and Behavioral Mechanisms

Previous studies have documented that early adversity increases young adults’ risk for diabetes resulting in morbidity and comorbidity with adverse health conditions. However, less is known about how inter-related physiological (e.g., body mass index [BMI]), psychological (e.g., depressive symptoms), and behavioral mechanisms (e.g., unhealthy eating and sedentary behavior) link early adversity to young adults’ diabetes outcomes, although these mechanisms appear to stem from early stressful experiences. The current study tested the patterning of these longitudinal pathways leading to young adults’ diabetes using a nationally representative sample of 13,286 adolescents (54% female) over a period of 13 years. The findings indicated that early adversity contributed to elevated BMI, depressive symptoms, and stress-related health behaviors. The impact of these linking mechanisms on hierarchical diabetes outcomes (i.e., prediabetes and diabetes) remained significant after taking their associations with each other into account, showing that these mechanisms operate concurrently. The findings emphasize the importance of early detection for risk factors of young adults’ diabetes in order to minimize their detrimental health effects.

Family Socioeconomic Status and Academic Achievement among Korean Adolescents: Linking Mechanisms of Family Processes and Adolescents' Time Use.

This study examined pathways through which family socioeconomic status may influence adolescents’ academic achievement. We focused on parental monitoring and adolescents’ after-school time-use patterns as linking mechanisms. Participants were 441 twelve- to fourteen-year-old Korean adolescents who participated in the Korea Welfare Panel Study. Higher family economic pressure was linked with lower parental monitoring through elevated levels of parental depression. Parental monitoring was associated with more time spent in structured learning-oriented activities and less time spent in unstructured nonacademic activities. Both types of time-use activities and parental monitoring were associated with academic achievement. The results supported both the family stress model and the family investment model, indicating that families’ socioeconomic conditions were directly and indirectly linked to adolescents’ academic achievement. The findings are discussed in the context of Korean culture, which emphasizes high parental involvement and economic investment in children’s education. We also present broader implications beyond the local context.

Stress Processes Linking Parent–Child Disconnection to Disease Risk in Young Adulthood: Amplification by Genotype

Previous studies have documented that early stressful family relationships influence subsequent stressful life circumstances and health outcomes over the life course. Less is known, however, about whether stressful parent-child relationships increase the influence of proximal stressors on youth health operating as a stress-sensitizing life context, and individual genetic variations have effects on these developmental processes. Informed by life course stress process theory, which focuses on the proliferation, accumulation, and interactions of stressors over the life course as health risks, we examined whether (a) parent–child disconnection influences the occurrence of stressful life events in young adulthood, (b) parent–child disconnection potentiates the impact of stressful life events on young adults’ health, or (c) potential health impact is intensified further by individual genotype. Using longitudinal data from a nationally representative sample of 11,290 adolescents (Mean age 15.5 years, 53% female) over a period of 13 years, we found parent–child disconnection influenced young adults’ stressful life events and amplified the impact of stressful life events on cardio-metabolic disease risk. We also found the association between stressful life events and cardio-metabolic disease risk was further intensified by the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism. Our findings demonstrate that stressful family relationships not only initiate stress processes over the early life course, but also sensitize youth to stressors, and that 5-HTTLPR polymorphism interacts with stressful life experiences to predict heightened disease risk.

Romantic relationships among emerging adult African-American men: A latent profile analysis

Studies of romantic relationships among emerging adult African-American men have the potential to inform downstream challenges observed in marriage and relationship development among African-Americans. To date, however, most research on African-American men has focused narrowly on sexual risk behavior, to the exclusion of normative relationship behavior. Accordingly, we focused on understanding heterogeneity in emerging adult African-American men’s romantic relationships. We conducted a latent profile analysis with 354 men participating in the African-American Men’s Project who had a main female romantic partner. To understand the significance of the resulting profiles, we examined the correlates of each profile in the areas of sociodemographics, adverse childhood experiences, masculinity attitudes, and health risk behaviors. Results revealed three romantic relationship groups: Supportive, Uncommitted, and Volatile. Differences were detected among the groups in education, fertility with partners, adverse childhood experiences, masculinity attitudes, substance abuse, and sexual concurrency.

Prevalence and Sociodemographic Correlates of Adolescent Use and Polyuse of Combustible, Vaporized, and Edible Cannabis Products

Key Points Question What are the prevalence, patterns, and correlates of use and polyuse of combustible, edible, and vaporized cannabis products among adolescents? Findings In a 2015 cross-sectional survey study of 3177 adolescents, ever use of edible (21.3%) or vaporized (10.5%) cannabis was appreciable, and most ever users of cannabis (61.7%) used at least 2 products. Current use was higher in boys than girls for vaporized (6.1% vs 3.0%) but not for combustible (13.8% vs 13.1%) or edible (8.4% vs 7.3%) cannabis. Meaning Health professionals should be aware that youth might use a diverse spectrum of combustible and alternative cannabis products.

Mediational pathways connecting secondary education and age at marriage to maternal mortality: A comparison between developing and developed countries

ABSTRACT While studies have shown that maternal mortality rates have been improving worldwide, rates are still high across developing nations. In general, poor health of women is associated with higher maternal mortality rates in developing countries. Understanding country-level risk factors can inform intervention and prevention efforts that could bring high maternal mortality rates down. Specifically, the authors were interested in investigating whether: (1) secondary education participation (SEP) or age at marriage (AM) of women were related to maternal mortality rates, and (2) adolescent birth rate and contraceptive use (CU) acted as mediators of this association. The authors add to the literature with this current article by showing the relation of SEP and AM to maternal mortality rates globally (both directly and indirectly through mediators) and then by comparing differences between developed and developing/least developed countries. Path analysis was used to test the hypothesized model using country level longitudinal data from 2000 to 2010 obtained from United Nations publications, World Health Organization materials, and World Bank development reports. Findings include a significant correlation between SEP and AM for developing countries; for developed countries the relation was not significant. As well, SEP in developing countries was associated with increased CU. Women in developing countries who finish school before marriage may have important social capital gains.