Miles G. Taylor

Timing, Accumulation, and the Black/White Disability Gap in Later Life: A Test of Weathering

Examining the Black/White disability gap among older adults, this study focuses on the role of timing in racial inequality over time. Using the Duke Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly (EPESE), the author reexamines Black and White disability trajectories with attention to timing of onset. In addition, known mediators are examined for their relative impact on onset and accumulation of disability. The author finds that diverging trajectories of Black and White disability, evidence of a cumulative disadvantage argument, are fueled solely by differences in onset. A more nuanced picture of racial disparities arises when controls are included, lending support to a weathering hypothesis. Access to health care is primary in explaining the Black/White disparity. The author concludes that timing is integral to the study of health trajectories and that research using cumulative disadvantage benefits from supplemental theories with specific assertions as to timing, including weathering.

Capturing Transitions and Trajectories: The Role of Socioeconomic Status in Later Life Disability

OBJECTIVES Disability is conceptualized as a life course process and measured using either transitions or trajectories. Previous research does not simultaneously explore both aspects of disablement, accounting for timing and trajectory. The role of education is noted in disability research, but its independent effects over time have not been fully examined. I investigate the effects of education and income on disability onset and progression over a decade. METHODS I use a latent curve modeling approach with four waves of the Duke Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly data to independently test the preventive and mediating effects education and income provide for disability. RESULTS Education has a preventive effect for disability onset but no significant effect on progression once income is held constant. Income has both a preventive and mediating effect on disability, although preventive effects are stronger for education. DISCUSSION Later life disability is measured here using both onset and trajectory. Findings are consistent with health research suggesting that education and income work through shared and independent mechanisms to affect disability over time. These findings also highlight the importance of modeling timing when studying health trajectories.

Trajectories of Marital Conflict Across the Life Course: Predictors and Interactions With Marital Happiness Trajectories

Using typologies outlined by Gottman and Fitzpatrick as well as institutional and companionate models of marriage, the authors conducted a latent class analysis of marital conflict trajectories using 20 years of data from the Marital Instability Over the Life Course study. Respondents were in one of three groups: high, medium (around the mean), or low conflict. Several factors predicted conflict trajectory group membership; respondents who believed in lifelong marriage and shared decisions equally with their spouse were more likely to report low and less likely to report high conflict. The conflict trajectories were intersected with marital happiness trajectories to examine predictors of high and low quality marriages. A stronger belief in lifelong marriage, shared decision making, and husbands sharing a greater proportion of housework were associated with an increased likelihood of membership in a high happiness, low conflict marriage, and a decreased likelihood of a low marital happiness group.

Social support, stress, and maternal postpartum depression: A comparison of supportive relationships.

A large body of literature documents the link between social support, stress, and womens mental health during pregnancy and the postpartum period; however, uncertainty remains as to whether a direct effect or stress mediating pathway best describes the relationship between these factors. Moreover, specific dimensions of social support that may be influential (family type, sources of support) have largely been neglected. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study (N=4150), we examine the pathway between social support, stress exposure, and postpartum depression in greater detail. Findings reveal that social support is a significant, protective factor for postpartum depression, and the variety of support providers in a womans social network is important, especially in the context of family type. Findings also reveal the importance of considering social support and stress exposure as part of a larger causal pathway to postpartum mental health.

Cohort Differences and Chronic Disease Profiles of Differential Disability Trajectories

OBJECTIVES Research shows declining disability rates, but little is known about whether cohort differences are due to delayed onset, increased recovery, or reduced severity of impairment. Furthermore, disease is considered the proximate cause of disability yet chronic conditions rates are increasing, making it unclear whether the conditions predicting specific disability trajectories are changing. METHODS We use a latent class analysis of disability trajectories and corresponding mortality with three birth cohorts of the National Long-Term Care Survey to determine how long-term experiences of disablement differ by cohort and chronic conditions. RESULTS More recent cohorts were more likely to experience a decade free of disablement compared with all other disability trajectories. Sensory problems and hypertension correspond to trajectories of non-disablement, whereas hip fracture, stroke, arthritis, and diabetes predict more disabled experiences. DISCUSSION Later life disability is measured nonparametrically to distinguish patterns among long-term trajectories. Findings suggest that more recent cohorts are more likely to forego or delay disability over a decade rather than experience prolonged periods of mild to severe disablement. Serious health events such as stroke, along with diabetes, characterize trajectories of high impairment, warranting future research.

Outside the Mainstream: Social Movement Organization Media Coverage in Mainstream and Partisan News Outlets

Purpose – Although scholars have long been interested in how social movements use mass media to forward their goals, sociological research almost exclusively focuses on the ability of activist groups to get their ideas and organizations in general audience, mainstream media coverage. This paper contributes to a more systematic understanding of media coverage outcomes by broadening the range of outlets considered relevant to political discourse. In addition to mainstream venues, we consider conservative and liberal/left outlets in our analysis of social movement organization media coverage. Method – Using negative binomial regression, we analyze how organizational characteristics, organizational frames, political elites, and event type affect the rates of social movement organization media coverage in mainstream and partisan news venues. Findings – We find that the independent variables play very different roles in mainstream and partisan media coverage outcomes. Specifically, while organizational characteristics and frames often enhance the media coverage outcomes of activist groups in mainstream venues, political elites have no effect at all. In contrast, organizational characteristics and frames do not affect social movement media coverage in partisan outlets, whereas political elites and event type do. Originality of the paper – Conceptually, this research broadens how scholars think about the relationship between social movement groups and mass media as well as the factors that influence media outcomes.

Cumulative Inequality and Racial Disparities in Health: Private Insurance Coverage and Black/White Differences in Functional Limitations

OBJECTIVES To test different forms of private insurance coverage as mediators for racial disparities in onset, persistent level, and acceleration of functional limitations among Medicare age-eligible Americans. METHOD Data come from 7 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (1996-2008). Onset and progression latent growth models were used to estimate racial differences in onset, level, and growth of functional limitations among a sample of 5,755 people aged 65 and older in 1996. Employer-provided insurance, spousal insurance, and market insurance were next added to the model to test how differences in private insurance mediated the racial gap in physical limitations. RESULTS In baseline models, African Americans had larger persistent level of limitations over time. Although employer-provided, spousal provided, and market insurances were directly associated with lower persistent levels of limitation, only differences in market insurance accounted for the racial disparities in persistent level of limitations. DISCUSSION Results suggest private insurance is important for reducing functional limitations, but market insurance is an important mediator of the persistently larger level of limitations observed among African Americans.

Reciprocity Between Depressive Symptoms and Physical Limitations Pre- and Postretirement Exploring Racial Differences

Objectives: This study assesses (a) the reciprocity between mental and physical health pre- and postretirement, and (b) the extent to which these associations vary by race. Method: Data are from the 1994 to 2008 waves of the Health and Retirement Study. Results: Analyses based on structural equation modeling reveal that depression and physical health exert reciprocal effects for Whites pre- and postretirement. For Blacks preretirement, physical limitations predict changes in depression but there is no evidence of the reverse association. Further, the association between physical limitations and changes in depressive symptoms among Blacks is no longer significant after retirement. Discussion: The transition into retirement alleviates the translation of physical limitations into depressive symptoms for Blacks only. The findings underscore the relevance of retirement for reciprocity between mental and physical health and suggest that the health implications associated with this life course transition vary by race.

Mental and physical health consequences of spousal health shocks among older adults.

Objective: To examine how the experience of a negative health event (i.e., onset of heart disease, diabetes, lung disease, cancer, or stroke) of one spouse affects the mental and physical well-being of the other partner as measured by depressive symptoms and self-reported health. Methods: We employ latent growth curve analysis and examine adults 50+ using six waves of data (1998-2008) from the Health and Retirement Study. Results: One spouse’s health shock affects the health of the other partner. Results indicate that a spouse’s onset of a severe health condition worsens the mental health of women and the self-reported health of men. Discussion: These findings illustrate that the family context of spouses is important to consider when examining health.

The Causal Pathway From Socioeconomic Status to Disability Trajectories in Later Life: The Importance of Mediating Mechanisms for Onset and Accumulation

This study examines the mechanisms by which different aspects of socioeconomic status affect disability trajectories among older adults. The author conceptualizes and models disability in two life course components, onset and growth, in order to see how socioeconomic status and its mechanisms differ in their effects on the timing and accumulation of disablement. Using the Duke Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly (EPESE), the author finds that the effects of education are mainly preventive for disability onset where financial resources both delay and ameliorate a trajectory of disability accumulation after onset. Health behaviors and mastery work as independent mediators of education while financial-based capital works to mediate both income and education effects. This study highlights transitions and trajectories in health processes, showing that education effects are far reaching and robust but only work for onset, while financial-based capital is effective in ameliorating a trajectory of disability in later life.