title: Associations of grandparental schooling with adult grandchildren's health status, smoking, and obesity.
abstract: Despite persistent schooling-related health disparities in the United States, little is known about the multigenerational effects of schooling on adult health. As expected lifespans increase, direct influences of grandparental schooling on grandchildren's health may become increasingly important. We used multigenerational data spanning 41 years from a national sample of US families to investigate associations of grandparents' educational attainment with global health status, smoking, and obesity in their grandchildren who were aged 25-55 years in 2009. We estimated total effects of grandparental schooling and, by using marginal structural models, we estimated controlled direct effects that were independent of parents' and participants' schooling. Among whites, lower levels of grandparental schooling were monotonically associated with poor health status, current smoking, and obesity in adult grandchildren. There was also evidence suggesting direct effects, which was stronger for poor health status among participants whose highest-educated grandparent lived in the same state. Among blacks, the only association suggesting a total or direct effect of grandparental schooling was for smoking. Despite the relative imprecision of our estimates and possible residual bias, these results suggest that higher levels of grandparental schooling may benefit the health of grandchildren in adulthood, especially among whites. Furthermore, part of those apparent effects, especially for obesity, may not be mediated by parents' and grandchildren's schooling.
authors.forename: Félice
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lê-Scherban
authors.forename: Ana V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Diez Roux
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Hal
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Morgenstern
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D016901:Intergenerational Relations; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: education; grandparents; health status; marginal structural models; multigenerational study; obesity; race; smoking
references.citation: Soc Biol. 2005 Fall-Winter;52(3-4):94-111
references.pmid: 17619606
references.citation: J Chronic Dis. 1987;40 Suppl 2:139S-161S
references.pmid: 3667861
references.citation: J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2006 Jul;61(7):694-701
references.pmid: 16870631
references.citation: J Health Soc Behav. 1997 Mar;38(1):21-37
references.pmid: 9097506
references.citation: N Engl J Med. 1993 Jul 8;329(2):103-9
references.pmid: 8510686
references.citation: J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2005 Mar;60(2):S93-S101
references.pmid: 15746030
references.citation: Psychol Addict Behav. 2008 Mar;22(1):1-11
references.pmid: 18298226
references.citation: Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2010 Jun;49(6):535-41
references.pmid: 20507869
references.citation: B E J Econom Anal Policy. 2011;11(3):
references.pmid: 22368743
references.citation: Int J Epidemiol. 2007 Dec;36(6):1214-21
references.pmid: 17971388
references.citation: Behav Brain Sci. 2010 Feb;33(1):1-19; discussion 19-40
references.pmid: 20377929
references.citation: Am J Epidemiol. 2009 Sep 1;170(5):566-75
references.pmid: 19589840
references.citation: Stat Methods Med Res. 2016 Apr;25(2):553-70
references.pmid: 23070596
references.citation: Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2000 Fall;31(1):3-22
references.pmid: 11033926
references.citation: Soc Sci Med. 2013 Feb;78:34-41
references.pmid: 23246398
references.citation: Epidemiology. 2009 Jan;20(1):18-26
references.pmid: 19234398
references.citation: Am J Public Health. 1996 Feb;86(2):231-6
references.pmid: 8633741
references.citation: Soc Sci Med. 2005 Jan;60(1):191-204
references.pmid: 15482878
references.citation: Stat Methods Med Res. 2013 Dec;22(6):661-70
references.pmid: 22072596
references.citation: Soc Sci Med. 2009 Aug;69(3):433-41
references.pmid: 19541400
references.citation: J Pers Soc Psychol. 1986 Dec;51(6):1173-82
references.pmid: 3806354
references.citation: J Health Econ. 2005 Mar;24(2):365-89
references.pmid: 15721050
references.citation: J Aging Health. 2008 Sep;20(6):671-93
references.pmid: 18583482
references.citation: Vital Health Stat 10. 2012 Jan;(252):1-207
references.pmid: 22834228
references.citation: JAMA. 2005 Dec 14;294(22):2879-88
references.pmid: 16352796
references.citation: Ann Epidemiol. 2009 Dec;19(12):875-83
references.pmid: 19804985
references.citation: J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2003 Jun;12(5):505-12
references.pmid: 12869298
references.citation: Am J Epidemiol. 2004 Apr 1;159(7):702-6
references.pmid: 15033648
references.citation: Eur J Public Health. 2005 Dec;15(6):647-51
references.pmid: 16093305
references.citation: Demography. 1995 May;32(2):215-29
references.pmid: 7664961
references.citation: Brain Behav Immun. 2009 Jul;23(5):677-83
references.pmid: 19486653
references.citation: Am J Public Health. 1992 Jun;82(6):816-20
references.pmid: 1585961
references.citation: J Natl Med Assoc. 2000 May;92(5):213-21
references.pmid: 10881470
references.citation: J Biosoc Sci. 2007 May;39(3):321-39
references.pmid: 17054821
references.citation: Epidemiology. 2006 May;17(3):276-84
references.pmid: 16617276
references.citation: J Epidemiol Community Health. 2003 Oct;57(10):802-8
references.pmid: 14573586
references.citation: Epidemiology. 2000 Sep;11(5):550-60
references.pmid: 10955408
references.citation: J Am Board Fam Med. 2008 Nov-Dec;21(6):549-54
references.pmid: 18988722
references.citation: Int J Epidemiol. 2000 Feb;29(1):149-57
references.pmid: 10750617
references.citation: Epidemiology. 2012 Mar;23(2):223-32
references.pmid: 22317806
references.citation: Int J Epidemiol. 2002 Apr;31(2):395-403
references.pmid: 11980802