Pathways from Childhood Economic Conditions to Adult Mortality in a 1953 Stockholm Cohort: The Intermediate Role of Personal Attributes and Socioeconomic Career

Abstract

Although both childhood and adult economic conditions have been found to be associated with mortality, independently or in combination with each other, less is known about the role of intermediate factors between these two life stages. This study explores the pathways between childhood economic conditions and adult mortality by taking personal attributes as well as adult socioeconomic career into consideration. Further, we investigate the role of intergenerational income mobility for adult mortality. We used data from a prospective cohort study of individuals that were born in 1953 and residing in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1963 who were followed for mortality between 2002 and 2021 (n = 11,325). We fit Cox proportional hazards models to assess the association of parental income, cognitive ability, social skills, educational attainment, occupational status, and adult income with mortality. The income mobility is operationalized as the interaction between parental and adult income. Our results show that the association between parental income and adult mortality is modest and largely operates through cognitive ability and adult educational attainment. However, our results do not provide support for there being an effect of intergenerational income mobility on adult mortality. In a Swedish cohort who grew up in a comparatively egalitarian society during the 1950s and 1960s, childhood economic conditions were found to play a distinct but relatively small role for later mortality.

Neighborhood Income Mobility and Risk of Neonatal and Maternal Morbidity

“…Women who tend to move to higher-income areas may possess such attributes, compared with those who remain within a low-income area, and thus, achieve a better health state at the time of their second pregnancy. 52 A consistent and pronounced association with upward mobility was seen for the outcomes of SMM-M and SNM-M. A cumulative pathway life course model suggests that the longer a person is exposed to socioeconomic challenges, the greater their accumulation of poor physical, psychological and cognitive attributes, which may further affect reproductive health. 53,54 However, upward social mobility may lessen the accumulation of such adverse exposures, 50,55 and potentially introduce protective exposures for the mother-to-be.…”

“…Aside from neighborhood factors that may alter the risk of SMM-M, SNM-M, or PTB are those of the woman herself, namely, educational attainment, health literacy, assertiveness, and both mental and physical resilience. Women who tend to move to higher-income areas may possess such attributes, compared with those who remain within a low-income area, and thus, achieve a better health state at the time of their second pregnancy …”

“…Women who tend to move to higher-income areas may possess such attributes, compared with those who remain within a low-income area, and thus, achieve a better health state at the time of their second pregnancy. 52 …”