MEDIATING ROLE OF EDUCATION AND LIFESTYLES IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EARLY-LIFE CONDITIONS AND HEALTH: EVIDENCE FROM THE 1958 BRITISH COHORT: MEDIATING ROLE OF EDUCATION AND LIFESTYLES

(2012) - Sandy Tubeuf, Florence Jusot, Damien Bricard

Journal: Health Economics
Link:: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hec.2815
DOI:: 10.1002/hec.2815
Links::
Tags:: #paper #Attainment #NCDS #Education
Cite Key:: [@tubeufMEDIATINGROLEEDUCATION2012]

Abstract

The paper focuses on the long-term effects of early-life conditions with comparison to lifestyles and educational attainment on health status in a cohort of British people born in 1958. Using the longitudinal follow-up data at age 23, 33, 42 and 46, we build a dynamic model to investigate the influence of each determinant on health and the mediating role of education and lifestyles in the relationship between early-life conditions and later health. Direct and indirect effects of early-life conditions on adult health are explored using auxiliary linear regressions of education and lifestyles and panel Probit specifications of self-assessed health with random effects addressing individual unexplained heterogeneity. Our study shows that early-life conditions are important parameters for adult health accounting for almost 20% of explained health inequality when mediating effects are identified. The contribution of lifestyles reduces from 32% down to 25% when indirect effects of early-life conditions and education are distinguished. Noticeably, the absence of father at the time of birth and experience of financial hardships represent the lead factors for direct effects on health. The absence of obesity at 16 influences health both directly and indirectly working through lifestyles. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Notes

“focuses on the long-term effects of early-life conditions with comparison to lifestyles and educational attainment on health status in a cohort of British people born in 1958.” (Tubeuf et al., 2012, p. 129)

“build a dynamic model to investigate the influence of each determinant on health and the mediating role of education and lifestyles in the relationship between early-life conditions and later health.” (Tubeuf et al., 2012, p. 129)

“Our study shows that early-life conditions are important parameters for adult health accounting for almost 20% of explained health inequality when mediating effects are identified” (Tubeuf et al., 2012, p. 129)

“contribution of lifestyles reduces from 32% down to 25% when indirect effects of early-life conditions and education are distinguished” (Tubeuf et al., 2012, p. 129)

“absence of father at the time of birth and experience of financial hardships represent the lead factors for direct effects on health. The absence of obesity at 16 influences health both directly and indirectly working through lifestyles.” (Tubeuf et al., 2012, p. 129)

“Figure 1. Early-life conditions, education, lifestyles and later-life health status” (Tubeuf et al., 2012, p. 130)

“The NCDS provides several current social characteristics, such as income or professional status, but to prevent us from endogeneity that may be observed between social characteristics with either health and lifestyles, we only consider educational qualification” (Tubeuf et al., 2012, p. 136)

“binary measurement of education based on whether the cohort member has at least being awarded an O-level or no” (Tubeuf et al., 2012, p. 136)

“Therefore, educational qualification is measured during adolescence, and so, as described in Figure 1, it is expected that lifestyles in adulthood will be affected by educational level in this context and not the reverse causal link.” (Tubeuf et al., 2012, p. 137)

“Social conditions in childhood include the father’s social class at the time of birth, the father and the mother’s education levels and parental reports of financial” (Tubeuf et al., 2012, p. 137)