TY - JOUR
T1 - Intergenerational transmission of health inequalities
T2 - research agenda for a life course approach to socioeconomic inequalities in health
AU - Houweling, Tanja A.J.
AU - Grünberger, Ilona
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
PY - 2024/7/11
Y1 - 2024/7/11
N2 - Explanations for socioeconomic inequalities in adult health are usually sought in behaviours and environments in adulthood. Yet, there is compelling evidence that the first two decades of life contribute substantially to both adult socioeconomic position (SEP) and adult health. This has implications for explanatory health inequalities research. We propose an analytical framework to advance research on the intergenerational transmission of health inequalities, that is, on intergenerational transmission of socioeconomic and associated health (dis)advantages at the family level, and its contribution to health inequalities at the population level. The framework distinguishes three transmission pathways: (1) intergenerational transmission of SEP, with effects on offspring health fully mediated by offspring SEP; (2) intergenerational transmission of health problems affecting SEP and (3) intergenerational transmission of both SEP and health, without a causal relationship between offspring adult SEP and health. We describe areas for future research along this framework and discuss the challenges and opportunities to advance this field.
AB - Explanations for socioeconomic inequalities in adult health are usually sought in behaviours and environments in adulthood. Yet, there is compelling evidence that the first two decades of life contribute substantially to both adult socioeconomic position (SEP) and adult health. This has implications for explanatory health inequalities research. We propose an analytical framework to advance research on the intergenerational transmission of health inequalities, that is, on intergenerational transmission of socioeconomic and associated health (dis)advantages at the family level, and its contribution to health inequalities at the population level. The framework distinguishes three transmission pathways: (1) intergenerational transmission of SEP, with effects on offspring health fully mediated by offspring SEP; (2) intergenerational transmission of health problems affecting SEP and (3) intergenerational transmission of both SEP and health, without a causal relationship between offspring adult SEP and health. We describe areas for future research along this framework and discuss the challenges and opportunities to advance this field.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85197653606&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1136/jech-2022-220163
DO - 10.1136/jech-2022-220163
M3 - Article
C2 - 38991761
AN - SCOPUS:85197653606
SN - 0143-005X
JO - Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
JF - Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
M1 - jech-2022-220163
ER -
