Kim Jinyoung, Miech Richard
Department of Sociology, Korea University, Anam-dong, Seongbuk-Gu, Seoul 136-701, Republic of Korea.
Soc Sci Med. 2009 Feb;68(4):717-25. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.12.021. Epub 2009 Jan 23.
This study examines whether the racial disparity in functional health grows unabated over the adult life course--the cumulative disadvantage hypothesis--or shrinks among the oldest old---the age-as-leveler hypothesis. Special emphasis is placed on the role of socioeconomic status (SES), which is highly associated with race. The analysis uses latent growth-curve modeling to examine differences in age trajectories of functional health between Black and White Americans and is based on nationally representative panel data of 3497 adults. Results cautiously support the age-as-leveler hypothesis. Net of functional health at baseline, Black adults experience a growing disadvantage in functional health over time until the oldest ages, when the gap in functional health begins to shrink. Results indicate that the potential leveling mechanisms of age may be specific to women. SES including financial assets explains the divergence in functional health across young and middle-aged Black and White adults, but not the later-life convergence. This study reveals the life-course pattern of racial disparity in functional health and suggests that more theoretical development is needed in this field to explain why the age-as-leveler and cumulative disadvantage processes are different for functional health than for other outcomes.
本研究探讨了在整个成年生命历程中，功能健康方面的种族差异是否会持续加剧——即累积劣势假说，还是在最年长者中会缩小——即年龄平等化假说。研究特别强调了社会经济地位（SES）的作用，它与种族高度相关。分析采用潜在增长曲线模型，以检验美国黑人和白人在功能健康年龄轨迹上的差异，并基于对3497名成年人的全国代表性面板数据。结果谨慎地支持了年龄平等化假说。在扣除基线时的功能健康因素后，黑人成年人在功能健康方面随着时间推移处于越来越大的劣势，直到最年长阶段，功能健康差距才开始缩小。结果表明，年龄的潜在平等化机制可能对女性具有特异性。包括金融资产在内的社会经济地位解释了年轻和中年黑人和白人成年人在功能健康方面的差异，但无法解释后期的趋同现象。本研究揭示了功能健康方面种族差异的生命历程模式，并表明该领域需要更多的理论发展，以解释为什么年龄平等化和累积劣势过程在功能健康方面与其他结果不同。
