Are the educational differences in incidence of cardiovascular disease explained by underlying familial factors? A twin study

Madsen, Mia; Andersen, Per Kragh; Gerster, Mette; Christensen, Kaare; Osler, Merete

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.04.016

Cited by 29 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…They either fail to find a causal effect of schooling on various health outcomes within monozygotic twins (Amin et al 2015; Behrman et al 2011; Fujiwara and Kawachi 2009) or the associations are dramatically reduced in magnitude within either monozygotic or dizygotic twins (Lundborg 2013; Webbink et al 2010; Madsen et al 2014). These findings suggest most of the link between education and health is attributable to unobserved genetic factors or early life environment.…”

Section: Background Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Why does college education matter? Unveiling the contributions of selection factors

Zheng

2017

Social Science Research

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This study investigates the contributions of pre-college selection factors that may partially lead to the college degree – health link by using longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 cohort. Propensity score matching method finds that the effects of college degree on various health outcomes (self-rated health, physical component summary index, health limitations, CESD scale) are reduced by 51% on average (range: 37%–70%) in the matched sample. Among these observed factors, cognitive skill is the biggest confounder, followed by pre-college health and socioeconomic characteristics (marital aspiration, years of schooling, marriage, fertility, poverty status) and non-cognitive skills (e.g., self-esteem). Rotter Internal-External Locus of Control scale is not significantly associated with all four health measures. The effects of most indicators of family background (parental education, family stability, family size, religious background) on the health of adult children are not direct but through offspring’s early adulthood health and socioeconomic status.

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Section: Background Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Why does college education matter? Unveiling the contributions of selection factors

Zheng

2017

Social Science Research

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“…A large and growing literature has examined the relationship between education and health (Albouy & Lequien, 2009; Amin et al, 2015; Arendt, 2005; Behrman et al, 2011; Buckles et al, 2013; Clark & Royer, 2013; Fonseca & Zheng, 2011; Fujiwara & Kawachi, 2009; Gruenewald et al, 2012; Jürges et al, 2013; Lleras-Muney, 2005; Lundborg, 2013; Lundborg et al, 2012; Madsen et al, 2014; Manor et al, 2004; Mazumder, 2008; Meghir et al., 2012; Rosengren et al, 2009; Spasojevic, 2010; Strand & Tverdal, 2004; van Kippersluis et al, 2011; Webbink et al, 2010). Findings include that education is associated with better self-reported health (Amin et al, 2015; Fujiwara & Kawachi, 2009; Lundborg, 2013), lower mortality (Buckles et al, 2013; Lleras-Muney, 2005; Manor et al, 2004; van Kippersluis et al, 2011), greater longevity (Lundborg et al, 2012), lower odds of hypertension and diabetes (Fonseca & Zheng, 2011), reduced risk for acute myocardial infarction (Rosengren et al, 2009), and fewer chronic conditions (Lundborg, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several explanations exist for the association between education and better health, including that (1) more educated individuals are more health-literate and health-conscious (Buckles et al, 2013), (2) more educated individuals are better positioned to access health resources, including high-quality medical care (Buckles et al, 2013; Lundborg, 2013), (3) low education is a marker of socioeconomic adversity, which has been proposed to up-regulate pro-inflammatory genes and down-regulate antiviral genes, increasing risk for disease (Cole, 2013), and (4) unobserved factors, such as one’s genetic endowment and familial upbringing, account for the association between education and health (Amin et al, 2015; Madsen et al, 2014). Methodologically, it is challenging to adjudicate between these various causal and non-causal hypotheses.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several studies have used sophisticated methodologies, such as instrumental variables or twin designs, to interrogate causal claims. Whereas some of these studies have found enduring evidence for an effect of education on health after taking steps to control for confounding influences (Buckles et al, 2013; Fonseca & Zheng, 2011; Lundborg, 2013; Lundborg et al, 2012; Spasojevic, 2010; van Kippersluis et al, 2011), others have concluded that evidence for a causal link is limited and not particularly compelling (Albouy & Lequien, 2009; Amin et al, 2015; Behrman et al, 2011; Clark & Royer, 2013; Fujiwara & Kawachi, 2009; Madsen et al, 2014; Mazumder, 2008). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Seven discordant twin studies have examined the association between education and health so far. Results are mixed overall, with four studies (Amin et al, 2015; Behrman et al, 2011; Fujiwara & Kawachi, 2009; Madsen et al, 2014) indicating that shared familial factors largely account for the association between education and health, two studies (Lundborg 2013; Lundborg et al, 2012) finding a residual causal effect, and one study (Webbink et al, 2010) suggesting the causal effect is evident only in men. In general, existing studies find that education may result in better self-rated global health (i.e., how participants rate their health overall; Amin et al, 2015; Fujiwara & Kawachi, 2009; Lundborg, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Does education lower allostatic load? A co-twin control study

Hamdi

South

Krueger

2016

Brain, Behavior, and Immunity

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Many studies have found that education is associated with better health, but the causal basis of this association is unclear. The current study used a co-twin control design to examine if differences in years of education within twin pairs predict allostatic load. The strength of this design is that it controls for genetic and other familial confounds shared between twins. The sample consisted of 381 twins (with 292 twins from 146 complete pairs; mean age=57; 61% female) who participated in the biomarker project of the Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) study. Individual-level analyses showed a significant, negative association between years of education and allostatic load, but this association was explained entirely by familial influences shared between twins. The results of this study suggest that schooling does not itself protect against allostatic load.

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Association of Wealth With Longevity in US Adults at Midlife

et al. 2021

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IMPORTANCE Wealthy adults tend to live longer than those with less wealth. However, a challenge in this area of research has been the reduction of potential confounding by factors associated with the early environment and heritable traits, which could simultaneously affect socioeconomic circumstances in adulthood and health across the life course.OBJECTIVE To identify the association between net worth at midlife and subsequent all-cause mortality in individuals as well as within siblings and twin pairs. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTSThis cohort study conducted a series of analyses using data from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study, an ongoing national study of health and aging. The sample included adults (unrelated individuals, full siblings, and dizygotic and monozygotic twins) aged 20 to 75 years, who participated in wave 1 of the MIDUS study, which occurred from 1994 to 1996. The analyses were conducted between November 16, 2019, and May 18, 2021. EXPOSURES Self-reported net worth (total financial assets minus liabilities) at midlife (the middle years of life). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES All-cause mortality was tracked over nearly 24 years of follow-up, with a censor date of October 31, 2018. Survival models tested the association between net worth and all-cause mortality. Discordant sibling and twin analyses compared longevity within siblings and twin pairs who, given their shared early experiences and genetic backgrounds, were matched on these factors. RESULTSThe full sample comprised 5414 participants, who had a mean (SD) age of 46.7 (12.7) years and included 2766 women (51.1%). Higher net worth was associated with lower mortality risk (hazard ratio [HR], 0.95; 95% CI, 0.94-0.97; P < .001). Among siblings and twin pairs specifically (n = 2490), a similar within-family association was observed between higher net worth and lower mortality (HR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.91-0.97; P = .001), suggesting that the sibling or twin with more wealth tended to live longer than their co-sibling or co-twin with less wealth. When separate estimates were performed for the subsamples of siblings (HR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.90-0.97; P = .002), dizygotic twins (HR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.86-1.02; P = .19), and monozygotic twins (HR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.87-1.04; P = .34), the within-family estimates of the net worth-mortality association were similar, although the precision of estimates was reduced among twins.CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE This cohort study found that wealth accumulation at midlife was associated with longevity in US adults. Discordant sibling analyses suggested that this association is unlikely to be simply an artifact of early experiences or heritable characteristics shared by families.

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Are the educational differences in incidence of cardiovascular disease explained by underlying familial factors? A twin study

Cited by 29 publications

References 56 publications

Why does college education matter? Unveiling the contributions of selection factors

Why does college education matter? Unveiling the contributions of selection factors

Does education lower allostatic load? A co-twin control study

Association of Wealth With Longevity in US Adults at Midlife

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