Sept 18 Flashcards
Gee et al Life Course Perspective racism and health inequalities
life course perspective:
- individual, social, contextual and historical factors impact the individual across time
- they change in prevalence, importance, and impact across age, time, and development
focus on CHANGE
main thesis of Gee’s life course perspective
research on racism should adopt more of a LIFE COURSE PERSPECTIVE to better understand racial inequalities in health
7 important factors in a life course perspective
- age-patterned exposures
- sensitive period
- linked lives
- latency period
- stress proliferation
- period effect
- cohort effect
age patterned exposures
exposure to diff things may change as a function of age
discrimination may change in frequency over time
ie. as individuals age they exit some social institutions and enter new ones
ie. presence of disc within certain settings = likely to vary over the life course
example of age-patterned exposure: discrimination towards women in the workforce
how does age-based disc change across lifetime among women in the workforce?
- nationally representative US sample
- 7225 working women
- followed 1972-1989
- ‘mature women’: 30-40 yrs old at baseline
- ‘young women’: 14-24 at baseline
measured at 4 year intervals
split into BIRTH COHORTS
discrimination towards women in the workforce: confound of development & passage of time
ie. studying diff in math ability - study 5 year olds and 45 year olds - assess their abilities 5 years later
passage of 5 years will be very diff for a 5 versus 45 year old
the change a 5 year old goes through in their math ability during this period is much larger than the change a 40 year old would go through
if we average the trend of the 14-24 year olds with that of the 30-40 year olds, the effects would counteract and we’d get a flat line/no effect
separating allows ut to see how changes in discrimination happen across development AND time
discrimination towards women in the workforce: findings
- age discrimination starts off high in early 20s
- then decreases from 20s to mid 30s
- climbs to peak around 55
- then declines
discrimination among black youth followed across 18 years - setup
889 black youth
1/2 from Georgian (southern US state with large black population)
1/2 from Iowa (rural midwest, 88% white)
10-12 at baseline
6 follow-ups over 18 years
discrimination among black youth followed across 18 years - 2 questions
- what is trajectory of racial discrimination against black us youth across time?
- how is it influenced by gender, SES and geography?
discrimination among black youth followed across 18 years - findings
- INCREASING TRAJECTORY of exposure to racial discrimination over time (ages 10-12 > 28-30)
- STEEPER increase in racial disc exposure over time for:
- men
- those who lived in Iowa (very white state)
- those whose families earned more money
discrimination among black youth followed across 18 years - steeper increase in racial disc exposure over time for…
- men
- people living in Iowa
- those whose families earned more money
summary of age-patterned exposure
- age-patterned exposure matters
- cross-sectional studies are taking snapshots of disc and looking at effects - limited
- need to look at PROGRESSION and CHANGE in disc exposure longitudinally
sensitive period
certain events have a MORE PROFOUND EFFECT on health when they’re experienced during SPECIFIC DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES
outside this period, effect is much weaker
sensitive period implication
EXPOSURE to discrimination at certain developmental periods may have a GREATER EFFECT on health than at other developmental periods
studies should consider “age X exposure to discrimination” effects on health
one reason why studies should consider AGE x exposure to discrimination effects on health
because of SENSITIVE PERIODS
discrimination example: sensitive periods depression and discrimination - study questions
- what’s the trajectory of depression across the life course?
- how does discrimination in each decade of life impact deviations (changes) from that trajectory?
an obvious sensitive period
fetal development
embyronic period is HIGHLY SENSITIVE
weeks 3-8
discrimination example: sensitive periods depression and discrimination - study setup
Midlife in the United States Dataset
3 waves data, each spaced 10 years apart
3685 adults
age range: 20-49 at WAVE 1
5.7% Black, 2.2% Latinx
mostly GENDER-BASED discrimination reported