title: Childhood Misfortune and Handgrip Strength Among Black, White, and Hispanic Americans.
abstract: Although early-life insults may affect health, few studies use objective physical measures of adult health. This study investigated whether experiencing misfortune during childhood is associated with handgrip strength (HGS) in later life.
  
  
  
  Data on childhood misfortune and adult characteristics from the Health and Retirement Study were used to predict baseline and longitudinal change in HGS among White, Black, and Hispanic American men and women.
  
  
  
  Regression analyses revealed that multiple indicators of childhood misfortune were related to HGS at baseline, but the relationships were distinct for men and women. Over the study, having one childhood impairment predicted steeper declines in HGS for men, but childhood misfortune was unrelated to HGS change among women. Hispanic Americans had lower baseline HGS than their non-Hispanic counterparts and manifested steeper declines in HGS.
  
  
  
  The relationship between childhood exposures and adult HGS varied by the type of misfortune, but there was no evidence that the relationship varied by race/ethnicity. The significant and enduring Hispanic disadvantage in HGS warrants greater attention in gerontology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health, Chapel Hill.
authors.forename: Natalie R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Center on Aging and the Life Course, West Lafayette, Indiana.|Department of Sociology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana.
authors.forename: Kenneth F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Ferraro
authors.affiliation: Center on Aging and the Life Course, West Lafayette, Indiana.|Department of Sociology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana.
authors.forename: Blakelee R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Kemp
authors.affiliation: Children's Environmental Health Initiative, Houston, Texas.|Department of Statistics, Houston, Texas.|Department of Sociology, Rice University, Houston, Texas.
authors.forename: Patricia M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Morton
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana.
authors.forename: Sarah A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Mustillo
authors.affiliation: Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin.
authors.forename: Jacqueline L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Angel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D054523:Adult Survivors of Child Abuse / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D018737:Hand Strength / Q000502:physiology*; D006304:Health Status; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: Childhood disadvantage; Disability; Life course epidemiology