| 1. |
- Aradhya, Siddartha, et al.
(författare)
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Maternal age and the risk of low birthweight and pre-term delivery : a pan-Nordic comparison
- 2022
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Ingår i: International Journal of Epidemiology. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0300-5771 .- 1464-3685. ; 52:1, s. 156-164
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Advanced maternal age at birth is considered a risk factor for adverse birth outcomes. A recent study applying a sibling design has shown, however, that the association might be confounded by unobserved maternal characteristics.Methods: Using total population register data on all live singleton births during the period 1999–2012 in Denmark (N = 580 133; 90% population coverage), Norway (N = 540 890) and Sweden (N = 941 403) and from 2001–2014 in Finland (N = 568 026), we test whether advanced maternal age at birth independently increases the risk of low birthweight (LBW) (<2500 g) and pre-term birth (<37 weeks gestation). We estimated within-family models to reduce confounding by unobserved maternal characteristics shared by siblings using three model specifications: Model 0 examines the bivariate association; Model 1 adjusts for parity and sex; Model 2 for parity, sex and birth year.Results: The main results (Model 1) show an increased risk in LBW and pre-term delivery with increasing maternal ages. For example, compared with maternal ages of 26–27 years, maternal ages of 38–39 years display a 2.2, 0.9, 2.1 and 2.4 percentage point increase in the risk of LBW in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, respectively. The same patterns hold for pre-term delivery.Conclusions: Advanced maternal age is independently associated with higher risk of poor perinatal health outcomes even after adjusting for all observed and unobserved factors shared between siblings.
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| 2. |
- Baier, Tina, et al.
(författare)
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Genetic Influences on Educational Achievement in Cross-National Perspective
- 2022
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Ingår i: European Sociological Review. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0266-7215 .- 1468-2672. ; 38:6, s. 959-974
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There is a growing interest in how social conditions moderate genetic influences on education [gene–environment interactions (GxE)]. Previous research has focused on the family, specifically parents’ social background, and has neglected the institutional environment. To assess the impact of macro-level influences, we compare genetic influences on educational achievement and their social stratification across Germany, Norway, Sweden, and the United States. We combine well-established GxE-conceptualizations with the comparative stratification literature and propose that educational systems and welfare-state regimes affect the realization of genetic potential. We analyse population-representative survey data on twins (Germany and the United States) and twin registers (Norway and Sweden), and estimate genetically sensitive variance decomposition models. Our comparative design yields three main findings. First, Germany stands out with comparatively weak genetic influences on educational achievement suggesting that early tracking limits the realization thereof. Second, in the United States genetic influences are comparatively strong and similar in size compared to the Nordic countries. Third, in Sweden genetic influences are stronger among disadvantaged families supporting the expectation that challenging and uncertain circumstances promote genetic expression. This ideosyncratic finding must be related to features of Swedish social institutions or welfare-state arrangements that are not found in otherwise similar countries.
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| 3. |
- Baranowska-Rataj, Anna, 1980-, et al.
(författare)
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Preterm birth and educational disadvantage : heterogeneous effects
- 2023
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Ingår i: Population Studies. - : Routledge. - 0032-4728 .- 1477-4747. ; 77:3, s. 459-474
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Although preterm birth is the leading cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality in advanced economies, evidence about the consequences of prematurity in later life is limited. Using Swedish registers for cohorts born 1982–94 (N = 1,087,750), we examine the effects of preterm birth on school grades at age 16 using sibling fixed effects models. We further examine how school grades are affected by degree of prematurity and the compensating roles of family socio-economic resources and characteristics of school districts. Our results show that the negative effects of preterm birth are observed mostly among children born extremely preterm (<28 weeks); children born moderately preterm (32–<37 weeks) suffer no ill effects. We do not find any evidence for a moderating effect of parental socio-economic resources. Children born extremely preterm and in the top decile of school districts achieve as good grades as children born at full term in an average school district.
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| 4. |
- Barclay, Kieron, 1986-, et al.
(författare)
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Birth Spacing and Health and Socioeconomic Outcomes Across the Life Course : Evidence From the Utah Population Database
- 2022
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Ingår i: Demography. - : Duke University Press. - 0070-3370 .- 1533-7790. ; 59:3, s. 1117-1142
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The relationship between birth interval length and child outcomes has received increased attention in recent years, but few studies have examined offspring outcomes across the life course in North America. We use data from the Utah Population Database to examine the relationship between birth intervals and short- and long-term outcomes: preterm birth, low birth weight (LBW), infant mortality, college degree attainment, occupational status, and adult mortality. Using linear regression, linear probability models, and survival analysis, we compare results from models with and without sibling comparisons. Children born after a birth interval of 9–12 months have a higher probability of LBW, preterm birth, and infant mortality both with and without sibling comparisons; longer intervals are associated with a lower probability of these outcomes. Short intervals before the birth of the next youngest sibling are also associated with LBW, preterm birth, and infant mortality both with and without sibling comparisons. This pattern raises concerns that the sibling comparison models do not fully adjust for within-family factors predicting both spacing and perinatal outcomes. In sibling comparison analyses considering long-term outcomes, not even the very shortest birth intervals are negatively associated with educational or occupational outcomes or with long-term mortality. These findings suggest that extremely short birth intervals may increase the probability of poor perinatal outcomes but that any such disadvantages disappear over the extended life course.
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| 5. |
- Barclay, Kieron, 1986-, et al.
(författare)
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Birth spacing and health outcomes : differences across the life course and developmental contexts
- 2020
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Ingår i: Handbook on Demographic Change and the Lifecourse. - : Edward Elgar Publishing. - 9781788974868 - 9781788974875 ; , s. 170-181
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this chapter the authors discuss research on the effects of long and short birth spacing from the perspective of children (the time interval between the births of adjacent siblings). Recent research has placed doubt on previous findings of adverse effects of short birth intervals on birth outcomes as well as short-, medium-, and long-term health, educational, and socioeconomic attainment outcomes. They summarize recent findings with a particular focus on impacts over the lifecourse, and the extent to which findings are applicable at various levels of social and economic development. The authors also briefly discuss the effects of birth spacing in the broader context of research examining the effects of early life conditions on adult outcomes.
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| 6. |
- Barclay, Kieron, 1986-, et al.
(författare)
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Birth Spacing and Parents' Physical and Mental Health : An Analysis Using Individual and Sibling Fixed Effects
- 2024
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Ingår i: Demography. - 0070-3370 .- 1533-7790. ; 61:2, s. 393-418
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- An exten sive lit er a ture has exam ined the rela tion ship between birth spac ing and sub se quent health out comes for par ents, par tic u larly for moth ers. However, this research has drawn almost exclu sively on obser va tional research designs, and almost all stud ies have been lim ited to adjusting for observ able fac tors that could con found the rela tion ship between birth spac ing and health out comes. In this study, we use Nor we gian reg is ter data to exam ine the rela tion ship between birth spac ing and the num ber of gen eral prac ti tioner con sul ta tions for moth ers' and fathers' phys i cal and men tal health con cerns imme di ately after child birth (1-5 and 6-11 months after child birth), in the medium term (5-6 years after child bear ing), and in the long term (10-11 years after child bear ing). To exam ine short term health out comes, we esti mate indi vid ual fixed-effects mod els: we hold con stant fac tors that could influ ence par ents' birth spacing behav ior and their health, com par ing health out comes after differ ent births to the same par ent. We apply sib ling fixed effects in our anal y sis of medium- and long-term out comes, hold ing con stant moth ers' and fathers' fam ily back grounds. The results from our ana ly ses that do not apply indi vid ual or sib ling fixed effects are con sis tent with much of the pre vi ous lit er a ture: shorter and lon ger birth inter vals are asso ci ated with worse health out comes than birth inter vals of approx i ma tely 2-3 years. Estimates from indi vid ual fixed-effects mod els sug gest that par tic u larly short inter vals have a mod est neg a tive effect on mater nal men tal health in the short term, with more ambig u ous evi dence that par tic u larly short or long inter vals might mod estly influ ence short-, medium, and longterm phys i cal health out comes. Overall, these results are con sis tent with small to neg li gi ble effects of birth spac ing behav ior on (nonpreg nancyrelated) parental health outcomes.
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| 7. |
- Barclay, Kieron, et al.
(författare)
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Does the impact of parental death vary by parental socioeconomic status? A study of children's educational and occupational attainment
- 2022
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Ingår i: Journal of Marriage and Family. - : Wiley. - 0022-2445 .- 1741-3737. ; 84:1, s. 141-164
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: We examine whether parental death differentially affects educational and occupational attainment by the socioeconomic status of the parent who dies and the socioeconomic status of the surviving parent and extended kin.Background: An extensive literature has explored the main effect of parental death on offspring attainment, but few studies have examined socioeconomic differentials in the impact of parental death. Understanding the potential role of socioeconomic resources in compensating for disadvantage is important for understanding whether parental death, and disadvantageous events more generally, have an equalizing or exacerbating effect on socioeconomic differences in offspring socioeconomic attainment.Method: Using Swedish population register data on cohorts born 1973—1982 we examine grade point average at age 16, the transition from lower to upper-secondary education, the transition to tertiary education, overall educational attainment, and occupational status by age 30. We match families using antemortem parental socioeconomic trajectories. We also employ sibling fixed effects models.Results: We observe inconsistent results in our between-family regression analyses adjusting for observables. In sibling fixed effects models, we see zero results for moderation by parents’ occupations.Conclusion: We find little clear or convincing evidence that there are socioeconomic differentials in the impact of parental death in Sweden.Implications: The Swedish welfare state may reduce socioeconomic differentials in the impact of parental death. However, the lack of socioeconomic variation may also be influenced by factors such as compensatory agency.
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| 8. |
- Barclay, Kieron, et al.
(författare)
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Interpregnancy intervals and perinatal and child health in Sweden : A comparison within families and across social groups
- 2020
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Ingår i: Population Studies. - : Routledge. - 0032-4728 .- 1477-4747. ; 74:3, s. 363-378
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A large body of research has shown that children born after especially short or long birth intervals experience an elevated risk of poor perinatal outcomes, but recent work suggests this may be explained by confounding by unobserved family characteristics. We use Swedish population data on cohorts born 1981–2010 and sibling fixed effects to examine whether the length of the birth interval preceding the index child influences the risk of preterm birth, low birth weight, and hospitalization during childhood. We also present analyses stratified by salient social characteristics, such as maternal educational level and maternal country of birth. We find few effects of birth intervals on our outcomes, except for very short intervals (less than seven months) and very long intervals (>60 months). We find few differences in the patterns by maternal educational level or maternal country of origin after stratifying by the mother’s highest educational attainment.
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| 9. |
- Barclay, Kieron J., et al.
(författare)
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The Effects of Marital Status, Fertility, and Bereavement on Adult Mortality in Polygamous and Monogamous Households : Evidence From the Utah Population Database
- 2020
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Ingår i: Demography. - : Duke University Press. - 0070-3370 .- 1533-7790. ; 57:6, s. 2169-2198
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Although the associations among marital status, fertility, bereavement, and adult mortality have been widely studied, much less is known about these associations in polygamous households, which remain prevalent across much of the world. We use data from the Utah Population Database on 110,890 women and 106,979 men born up to 1900, with mortality follow-up into the twentieth century. We examine how the number of wife deaths affects male mortality in polygamous marriages, how sister wife deaths affect female mortality in polygamous marriages relative to the death of a husband, and how marriage order affects the mortality of women in polygamous marriages. We also examine how the number of children ever born and child deaths affect the mortality of men and women as well as variation across monogamous and polygamous unions. Our analyses of women show that the death of a husband and the death of a sister wife have similar effects on mortality. Marriage order does not play a role in the mortality of women in polygamous marriages. For men, the death of one wife in a polygamous marriage increases mortality to a lesser extent than it does for men in monogamous marriages. For polygamous men, losing additional wives has a dose-response effect. Both child deaths and lower fertility are associated with higher mortality. We consistently find that the presence of other kin in the household-whether a second wife, a sister wife, or children-mitigates the negative effects of bereavement.
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| 10. |
- Barclay, Kieron, et al.
(författare)
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The Influence of Health in Early Adulthood on Male Fertility
- 2020
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Ingår i: Population and Development Review. - : Wiley. - 0098-7921 .- 1728-4457. ; 46:4, s. 757-785
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Despite the large literature examining predictors of fertility, previous research has not offered a population-level perspective on how health in early adulthood is related to male fertility. Using Swedish population and military conscription registers, we study how body mass index (BMI), physical fitness, and height are associated with total fertility and parity transitions by 2012 among 405,427 Swedish men born 1965-1972, meaning we observe fertility up to age 40 or older. Applying linear regression and sibling fixed effects, we find that these anthropometric measures are strong predictors of fertility, even after accounting for education and cumulative income. Men with a normal BMI and in the highest decile of physical fitness have the most children. Men who were obese at ages 17-20 had a relative probability of childlessness almost twice as high as men who had a normal BMI, and men in the bottom decile of physical fitness had a relatively probability of childlessness more than 50 percent higher than men in the top decile. In sibling comparison models the tallest men have the most children and men in the lowest two deciles of height have significantly lower fertility. Further analyses show that the strong associations persist even among men who married.
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| 11. |
- Barclay, Kieron, et al.
(författare)
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The Production of Inequalities within Families and across Generations : The Intergenerational Effects of Birth Order on Educational Attainment
- 2021
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Ingår i: European Sociological Review. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0266-7215 .- 1468-2672. ; 37:4, s. 607-625
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There has long been interest in the extent to which effects of social stratification extend and persist across generations. We take a novel approach to this question by asking whether birth order in the parental generation influences the educational attainment of their children. To address this question, we use Swedish population data on cohorts born 1960–1982. To study the effects of parental birth order, we use cousin fixed effects comparisons. In analyses where we compare cousins who share the same biological grandparents to adjust for unobserved factors in the extended family, we find that having a later-born parent reduces educational attainment to a small extent. For example, a second- or fifth-born mother reduces educational attainment by 0.09 and 0.18 years, respectively, while having a second- or fifth-born father reduces educational attainment by 0.04 and 0.11 years, respectively. After adjusting for attained parental education and social class, the parental birth order effect is practically attenuated to zero. Overall our results suggest that parental birth order influences offspring educational and socioeconomic outcomes through the parents own educational and socioeconomic attainment. We cautiously suggest that parental birth order may have potential as an instrument for parental socioeconomic status in social stratification research more generally.
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| 12. |
- Bishop, Lauren, et al.
(författare)
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Birth order and health events attributable to alcohol and narcotics in midlife : A 25-year follow-up of a national Swedish birth cohort and their siblings
- 2022
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Ingår i: SSM - Population Health. - : Elsevier BV. - 2352-8273. ; 19
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Higher birth order is associated with increased risks of adverse health outcomes attributable to alcohol or narcotics in adolescence, but it remains unclear whether these observed birth order effects are also present in midlife. Drawing on a national Swedish cohort born in 1953 and their siblings, we estimate associations between birth order and alcohol- or narcotics-attributable hospitalization or death with a 25-year follow-up to assess whether birth order differences are observed during this life course period. Health events attributable to alcohol or narcotics use were identified using the Swedish National Patient and Cause of Death registers, respectively. Weapply Cox proportional hazards models to estimate average birth order differences in hazards for alcohol- or narcotics-attributable hospitalization or death between ages 30 and 55. We estimate birth order differences between families, and use two fixed-effects approaches to estimate birth order differences within families and within families of the same type. Bivariate results indicate increased hazards for both outcomes with higher birthorder; however, these results are no longer observed after adjustment for familial background characteristics in all models. Our results thereby show limited evidence for birth order differences in midlife. This study highlights that shared factors within the family of origin may be stronger predictors of adverse health outcomes attributable to substance use among siblings during this life course period. Future research should disentangle the contributions of the social environment within the family of origin for adverse health outcomes attributable to alcohol or narcotics among siblings.
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| 13. |
- Bishop, Lauren, 1987-
(författare)
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Under the influence : Substance misuse from the perspective of linked lives
- 2022
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Health risk behaviors shape, and are shaped by, the people with whom we interact throughout our lives. The use of substances, including alcohol or narcotics, is one such behavior, yet it is often empirically examined in isolation of other people. As such, it has been repeatedly shown that excessive alcohol consumption, illicit drug use, and the extra-medical use of prescription narcotics are, collectively, a leading cause of preventable injury, severe illness, and premature death. However, by not considering that substance use which leads to harms (hereafter, substance misuse) is inseparable from social contexts, the burden of substance misuse may be greatly underestimated. Drawing on a Swedish birth cohort from 1953, and centered on the concept of interdependent—linked—lives, this thesis encompasses four empirical studies of social relationships and substance misuse. Each study examines the association between substance misuse and friends and parents, siblings, spouses, and offspring, respectively. Study I explored whether childhood adversity in two contexts, within the family of origin and among one’s adolescent friends at age 13, was a potential risk factor for later substance misuse. The study found independent associations between substance misuse and childhood adversity in both contexts. Study II estimated differences in substance misuse between siblings in midlife according to birth order, and showed that substance misuse during this life course period may be better explained by factors within the family of origin. Study III examined the effects of substance misuse on nearly 50 years of marital status transitions. The results suggest that a lifetime history of substance misuse affects marital status transitions, and that substance misuse may increase the risk of marital dissolution. Finally, in investigating changes in parental psychotropic medication use in relation to their offspring’s hospitalization for substance misuse, Study IV demonstrated that such stressful life events as an offspring’s hospitalization for narcotics use may have a detrimental impact on maternal mental health. The findings from the thesis underscore that factors within the families of both origin and destination have the potential to affect, and be affected by, substance misuse throughout the life course. The thesis concludes substance misuse neither starts, nor ends, with the individual. Accordingly, public health efforts could benefit from approaching substance misuse from the perspective of linked lives.
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| 14. |
- Chanfreau, Jenny, et al.
(författare)
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Sibling group size and BMI over the life course : Evidence from four British cohort studies
- 2022
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Ingår i: Advances in Life Course Research. - : Elsevier BV. - 1040-2608. ; 53
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Only children, here defined as individuals growing up without siblings, are a small but growing demographic subgroup. Existing research has consistently shown that, on average, only children have higher body mass index (BMI) than individuals who grow up with siblings. How this difference develops with age is unclear and existing evidence is inconclusive regarding the underlying mechanisms. We investigate BMI trajectories for only children and those with siblings up to late adolescence for four British birth cohorts and across adulthood for three cohorts. We use data on BMI from ages 2–63 years (cohort born 1946); 7–55 years (born 1958); 10–46 (born 1970) and 3–17 years (born 2000–2002). Using mixed effects regression separately for each cohort, we estimate the change in BMI by age comparing only children and those with siblings. The results show higher average BMI among only children in each cohort, yet the difference is substantively small and limited to school age and adolescence. The association between sibling status and BMI at age 10/11 is not explained by differential health behaviours (physical activity, inactivity and diet) or individual or family background characteristics in any of the cohorts. Although persistent across cohorts, and despite the underlying mechanism remaining unexplained, the substantively small magnitude of the observed difference and the convergence of the trajectories by early adulthood in all cohorts raises doubts about whether the difference in BMI between only children and siblings in the UK context should be of research or clinical concern. Future research could usefully be directed more at whether only children experience elevated rates of disease, for which high BMI is a risk factor, at different stages of the life course and across contexts.
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| 15. |
- Filser, Andreas, et al.
(författare)
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Are skewed sex ratios associated with violent crime? A longitudinal analysis using Swedish register data
- 2021
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Ingår i: Evolution and human behavior. - : Elsevier BV. - 1090-5138 .- 1879-0607. ; 42:3, s. 212-222
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There is widespread concern in both the popular and academic literature that a surplus of men in a population intensifies mating competition between men, particularly unpartnered men, resulting in increased violence towards both men and women. Recent contributions challenge this perspective and argue that male mating competition and levels of violence will be higher when sex ratios are female-skewed. Existing empirical evidence remains inconclusive. We argue that this empirical ambiguity results from analyses of aggregate-level data, which put inferences at risk of ecological fallacies. Our analysis circumvents such problems by using individual-level, longitudinal demographic register and police data for the Stockholm metropolitan area, Sweden (1990–2003, n = 758,498). These data allow us to investigate the association between municipality-level sex ratios and violent offending (homicide, assault, threat, and sexual crimes) while adjusting for sociodemographic factors. Results suggest that aggregated offending rates are negatively associated with male-skewed sex ratios, whereas individual-level violent offending correlates positively with male-skews. We find that the more-men-more-violence association holds particularly for male violence against other men, but is insignificant for violence against women. Moreover, the association is significant among childless men, but not among fathers. However, robustness checks question the causality of these associations. Female violent offending is positively, albeit due to a low number of cases, insignificantly associated with male-skews. Moreover, both male and female non-violent offending is higher in male-skewed municipalities. We discuss the implications with regard to the theoretical debate and problems of unobserved heterogeneity in the sex ratio literature.
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| 16. |
- Gardner, Eugene J., et al.
(författare)
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Reduced reproductive success is associated with selective constraint on human genes
- 2022
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 603:7903, s. 858-863
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Genome-wide sequencing of human populations has revealed substantial variation among genes in the intensity of purifying selection acting on damaging genetic variants1. Although genes under the strongest selective constraint are highly enriched for associations with Mendelian disorders, most of these genes are not associated with disease and therefore the nature of the selection acting on them is not known2. Here we show that genetic variants that damage these genes are associated with markedly reduced reproductive success, primarily owing to increased childlessness, with a stronger effect in males than in females. We present evidence that increased childlessness is probably mediated by genetically associated cognitive and behavioural traits, which may mean that male carriers are less likely to find reproductive partners. This reduction in reproductive success may account for 20% of purifying selection against heterozygous variants that ablate protein-coding genes. Although this genetic association may only account for a very minor fraction of the overall likelihood of being childless (less than 1%), especially when compared to more influential sociodemographic factors, it may influence how genes evolve over time.
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| 17. |
- Grätz, Michael, et al.
(författare)
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Sibling Similarity in Education Across and Within Societies
- 2021
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Ingår i: Demography. - : Duke University Press. - 0070-3370 .- 1533-7790. ; 58:3, s. 1011-1037
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The extent to which siblings resemble each other measures the omnibus impact of family background on life chances. We study sibling similarity in cognitive skills, school grades, and educational attainment in Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. We also compare sibling similarity by parental education and occupation within these societies. The comparison of sibling correlations across and within societies allows us to characterize the omnibus impact of family background on education across social landscapes. Across countries, we find larger population-level differences in sibling similarity in educational attainment than in cognitive skills and school grades. In general, sibling similarity in education varies less across countries than sibling similarity in earnings. Compared with Scandinavian countries, the United States shows more sibling similarity in cognitive skills and educational attainment but less sibling similarity in school grades. We find that socioeconomic differences in sibling similarity vary across parental resources, countries, and measures of educational success. Sweden and the United States show greater sibling similarity in educational attainment in families with a highly educated father, and Finland and Norway show greater sibling similarity in educational attainment in families with a low-educated father. We discuss the implications of our results for theories about the impact of institutions and income inequality on educational inequality and the mechanisms that underlie such inequality.
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| 18. |
- Keenan, Katherine, et al.
(författare)
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Health outcomes of only children across the life course : An investigation using Swedish register data
- 2023
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Ingår i: Population Studies. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0032-4728 .- 1477-4747. ; 77:1, s. 71-90
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Only children (with no full biological siblings) are a growing subgroup in many high-income settings. Previous studies have largely focused on the short-term developmental outcomes of only children, but there is limited evidence on their health outcomes. Using Swedish population register data for cohorts born 1940–75, we compare the health of only children with that of children from multi-child sibling groups, taking into account birth order, family size, and presence of half-siblings. Only children showed lower height and fitness scores, were more likely to be overweight/obese in late adolescence, and experienced higher later-life mortality than those with one or two siblings. However, only children without half-siblings were consistently healthier than those with half-siblings, suggesting that parental disruption confers additional disadvantages. The health disadvantage was attenuated but not fully explained by adjustment for parental characteristics and after using within-family maternal cousin comparison designs.
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| 19. |
- Kolk, Martin, et al.
(författare)
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Do income and marriage mediate the relationship between cognitive ability and fertility? Data from Swedish taxation and conscriptions registers for men born 1951-1967
- 2021
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Ingår i: Intelligence. - : Elsevier BV. - 0160-2896 .- 1873-7935. ; 84
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recent evidence suggests a positive association between fertility and cognitive ability among Swedish men. In this study we use data on 18 birth cohorts of Swedish men to examine whether and how the relationship between cognitive ability and patterns of childbearing are mediated by income, education and marriage histories. We examine whether the expected positive associations between cognitive ability and life course income can explain this positive association. We also explore the role of marriage for understanding the positive gradient between cognitive ability and fertility. To address these questions we use Swedish population administrative data that holds information on fertility histories, detailed taxation records, and data from conscription registers. We also identify siblings in order to adjust for confounding by shared family background factors. Our results show that while cognitive ability, education, income, marriage, and fertility, are all positively associated with each other, income only explains a part of the observed positive gradient between fertility and cognitive ability. We find that much of the association between cognitive ability and fertility can be explained by marriage, but that a positive association exists among both ever-married and never-married men. Both low income and low cognitive ability are strong predictors of childlessness and low fertility in our population. The results from the full population persist in the sub-sample of brothers.
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| 20. |
- Lee, D. Susie, et al.
(författare)
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Body mass index in early adulthood and transition to first birth : Racial/ethnic and sex differences in the United States NLSY79 Cohort
- 2023
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Ingår i: Population Studies. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0032-4728 .- 1477-4747. ; 77:2, s. 241-261
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Studies show that body mass index during early adulthood (‘early BMI’) predicts the transition to first birth, but early childbearers tend to be omitted from such studies. This sample selection distorts the prevalence of childlessness, and particularly the racial/ethnic heterogeneity therein, because first birth timing differs by race/ethnicity. We imputed pre-parenthood early BMI for a larger sample, including early childbearers, for the same United States NLSY79 data used in a previous study and simulated differences in the probability of childlessness at age 40+ using posterior distributions based on the Bayesian framework. Obesity was consistently associated with higher childlessness across racial/ethnic groups in both sexes, but only among obese women were first births delayed until after early adulthood. The overall lower childlessness among the underweight women appeared largely driven by Black women. Our findings on the intersectionality of race/ethnicity and sex in the BMI–childlessness pathways encourage research on the underlying mechanisms and on more recent cohorts across different societies.
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| 21. |
- Peters, Steffen, 1989-
(författare)
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Who starts a family? : The prospective association between psychological factors and family formation processes
- 2024
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The role of psychological factors for family formation processes has been underexplored in demographic research. However, psychological concepts such as personality, identity, or skills may have become increasingly relevant for family formation processes such as marital behavior, childbearing, or partnership dissolution, in particular in countries with high levels of individualism. This dissertation aims to address this research gap in various ways. First, the dissertation chapters examine the prospective associations between personality and family formation (marriage, fertility, dissolution) (chapters 1 and 2), identity and marriage (chapter 3), and leadership skills and family formation (marriage, fertility) (chapter 4). Second, the potential mediating role of socio-economic status indicators (income, education) for these relationships is explored (chapters 2, 3 and 4). Third, full siblings are compared to each other when applicable in order to control for shared background factors such as genetics or parental background (chapters 2 and 4). For these purposes, different data sources are used including large and representative survey data from Germany (chapter 1), Swedish register data (chapters 2 and 4), and survey data from Finland (chapter 3). Methodologically, a mix of widely used analytical methods have been applied such as event-history analyses, linear probability models, or Poisson regression models including individual and sibling fixed effects. The findings of this thesis suggest that psychological factors shape family formation processes across the selected European countries (Germany, Sweden, Finland) with high levels of individualism. Personality factors linked to social abilities (extraversion, social maturity, agreeableness) generally show positive associations with childbearing (chapters 1 and 2) and the probability to get married, and negative correlations with dissolution processes (chapter 2). Emotional stability is also positively associated with family formation processes (marriage, fertility), and negatively linked with partnership dissolution (chapter 2). However, these associations only relate to patterns for males whereas females do either not show clear associations (chapter 1), or had to be neglected based on data restrictions (chapter 2). Furthermore, certainty and commitment with future life plans (as indicator for identity) are positively linked with marriage risks over time (chapter 3). Regarding leadership skills (LS), as one specific type of skills, similar associations to personality effects from study 1 and 2 have been found, i.e. LS are positively correlated with marriage and fertility (chapter 4). The mediating effects of income and education, are relatively small for all associations so that future research may examine the role of other potential mechanisms such as intentions, attitudes, or health. Additionally, sibling fixed effects approaches do not show large difference compared to the patterns that are described above.
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