Childhood Peer Status and the Clustering of Adverse Living Conditions in Adulthood

Within the context of the school class, children attain a social position in the peer hierarchy to which varying amounts of status are attached. Several studies have shown that children’s peer status is associated with a wide range of social and health-related outcomes. These studies commonly target separate outcomes, paying little attention to the fact that such circumstances are likely to go hand in hand. The overarching aim of the present study was therefore to examine the impact of childhood peer status on the clustering of living conditions in adulthood. Based on a 1953 cohort born in Stockholm, Sweden, multinomial regression analysis demonstrated that children who had lower peer status also had exceedingly high risks of ending up in more problem-burdened clusters as adults. Moreover, these associations remained after adjusting for a variety of family-related circumstances. We conclude that peer status constitutes a central aspect of children’s upbringing with important consequences for subsequent life chances, over and above the influences originating from the family.childhood; peer status; cohort; life course; outcome profiles; living conditions

Stability and bidirectional relationship between physical activity and sedentary behaviours in Brazilian adolescents: Longitudinal findings from a school cohort study.

PURPOSE:We investigated the stability, correlations and bidirectional relationship of light physical activities (PA), moderate and vigorous PA (MVPA), television viewing (TV) and video game/computer use (VG) in Brazilian adolescents. METHODS:Adolescent Nutritional Assessment Longitudinal Study-ELANA is a middle school cohort study conducted in Rio de Janeiro-Brazil in 2010-2012. Self-reported data on PA (International Physical Activity Questionnaire- IPAQ) and screen activities were obtained from 810 adolescents (mean ages of 10.9 years old (SD 0.78) for girls; 11 years old (SD 0.85) for boys) to perform autoregressive cross-lagged structural equation models in two time points for PA and three time points for screen activities. RESULTS:There was no significant stability of light PA and MVPA for boys and girls. Moderate stability of screen activities were found for both genders, with a significant coefficient of TV for boys (T1-T2:0.29; T2-T3:0.27 p<0.001); and VG for boys (T1-T2:0.33; T2-T3:0.35 p<0.001) and girls (T1-T2: 0.26; T2-T3:0.37 p<0.01). Significant lagged effects were obtained only among girls: light PA had effect on VG (-0.10 p<0.01), as well as in the opposite direction of TV on light PA (-0.03 p<0.01) and TV on MVPA (-0.11 p<0.01). CONCLUSION:The light PA, MVPA and screen activities (among girls) did not demonstrate stability over time. A warning scenario was suggested by the stability of high amounts of screen activities among boys over time. Screen activities had bidirectional association with light PA and MVPA among girls over time

Född i Stockholm på femtiotalet

The Stockholm Birth Cohort Study (SBC) was created in 2004/2005 by a probability matching of two anonymized longitudinal datasets; The Stockholm Metropolitan study and The Swedish Work and Mortality Database (WMD). The former involves all children born 1953 that lived in the Stockholm metropolitan area as of November 1, 1963, while the latter comprises data for the period 1980-2009 on all individuals living in Sweden in 1980 or 1990, and born before 1986. The study comprises data from both surveys and public register records. The core of the project consists of three surveys from The Stockholm Metropolitan study; The School Study (1966), The Family Study (1968), and The Culture and Leisure Time Study (1985). There is also a wide range of register data, for instance delivery records, occupational and income data, welfare recipiency data, health records, mortality data, educational data, and dependency and child welfare committee data. The Stockholm Birth Cohort offers unique opportunities for longitudinal research within various fields such as sociology, public health science, and psychology. So far the datasets have resulted in more than 140 publications which have dealt with, among other things, whether and how childhood circumstances affect later social outcomes in adult life. Purpose: To aim is to create a new tool for life-course studies of health outcomes as well as social outcomes for research in fields such as psychology, public health science, and sociology.Studien “Född i Stockholm på femtiotalet” skapades 2004/2005 genom en sannolikhetsmatchning av två anonymiserade statistiska datamaterial; Metropolitprojektet och databasen Hälsa, sjukdom, arbete och inkomst (HSIA). Den förra innefattar alla barn födda 1953 och som bodde i Stockholm 1963, och den senare består av uppgifter för perioden 1980-2009 över alla personer som bodde i Sverige 1980 eller 1990 och som var födda före 1986. Studien består av data från både enkäter och allmänna register. Ryggraden för hela projektet utgörs av tre enkätundersökningar inom ramen för Metropolitprojektet; Skolundersökningen (1966), Familjeundersökningen (1968) och Kultur- och fritidsenkäten (1985). Därtill utgörs innehållet av data från en rad olika register, däribland förlossningsjournaler, inkomster och yrkesuppgifter, socialbidrag, hälsa, dödsorsaker, utbildning och information om familjen från socialregister. "Född i Stockholm på femtiotalet" erbjuder en unik möjlighet att bedriva longitudinell forskning inom flera discipliner såsom sociologi, folkhälsovetenskap och psykologi. Hittills har datamaterialet resulterat i över 140 publikationer, och har till exempel använts för att undersöka bestämmelsefaktorer för barns möjligheter i livet. Syfte: Syftet är att skapa ett nytt redskap för livsförloppsstudier av hälsoutfall och sociala utfall för forskning inom discipliner såsom psykologi, folkhälsovetenskap och sociologi

Childhood friendships and the clustering of adverse circumstances in adulthood - a longitudinal study of a Stockholm cohort

Friendships constitute a central feature of childhood, yet little is known about the developmental significance extending beyond childhood and adolescence. The aim of the present study was therefore to investigate the association between childhood friendships and adult outcomes. Since many outcomes in adulthood go hand in hand, the outcome pattern as a whole was targeted. Based on a longitudinal data material consisting of more than 14,000 individuals born in Stockholm in 1953, a cluster analysis of adult circumstances (1992-2007) was first conducted. Second, the association between three indicators of childhood friendships (1966) and the outcome profiles was analysed by means of multinomial regression analysis. The results indicated that children who lacked leisure time friends and a best friend in the school class had increased risks of ending up in the more adverse clusters as adults, whereas the opposite association was found for those who reported being solitary. The effect of childhood friendships was rather consistent across both single and multiple problems, suggesting that the disadvantages of being without friends in childhood do not accumulate over the life course to any large extent. Generally, the results were the same for males and females. It is concluded that childhood friendships are important for adverse circumstances in adulthood, for both genders. As far as the long-lasting effects of children's friendships involve varying access to social support, school-based interventions should compensate for the scarcity of support following the lack of childhood friends

Popular peers and firstborn siblings are better off

‘The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree’ is an idiom that ultimately is reflected in the reproduction of inequality patterns across generations. Representatives of the child’s own generation, such as siblings and peers, may however play a key role by either reinforcing or counteracting this reproduction. Based on a Stockholm cohort now approaching retirement, we explore whether the inheritance of parents’ misfortunes, here reflected through poverty, varies in strength depending on the cohort members’ position in the sibship or peer group.Sociologisk Forsknings digitala arkiv</p

Do trajectories of economic, work- and health-related disadvantages explain child welfare clients' increased mortality risk? A prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Past research has shown that individuals who have had experiences of out-of-home care (OHC) in childhood have increased risks of premature mortality. Prior studies also suggest that these individuals are more likely to follow long-term trajectories that are characterised by economic, work-, and health-related disadvantages, compared to majority population peers. Yet, we do not know the extent to which such trajectories may explain their elevated mortality risks. The aim of this study is therefore to examine whether trajectories of economic, work-, and health-related disadvantages in midlife mediate the association between OHC experience in childhood and subsequent all-cause mortality. METHODS: Utilising longitudinal Swedish data from a 1953 cohort (n = 14,294), followed from birth up until 2008 (age 55), this study applies gender-specific logistic regression analysis to analyse the association between OHC experience in childhood (ages 0-19; 1953-1972) and all-cause mortality (ages 47-55; 2000-2008). A decomposition method developed for non-linear regression models is used to estimate mediation by trajectories of economic, work-, and health-related disadvantages (ages 39-46; 1992-1999), as indicated by social welfare receipt, unemployment, and mental health problems. To account for selection processes underlying placement in OHC, an alternative comparison group of children who were investigated by the child welfare committee but not placed, is included. RESULTS: The results confirm that individuals with experience of OHC have more than a two-fold increased risk of all-cause mortality, for men (OR: 2.10, 95% CI: 1.42-3.11) and women (OR: 2.23, 95% CI: 1.39-3.59) alike. Approximately one-third (31.1%) of the association among men, and one-fourth (27.4%) of the association among women, is mediated by the long-term trajectories of economic, work-, and health-related disadvantages. The group who were investigated but not placed shows similar, yet overall weaker, associations. CONCLUSIONS: Individuals who come to the attention of the child welfare services, regardless of whether they are placed in out-of-home care or not, continue to be at risk of adverse outcomes across the life course. Preventing them from following trajectories of economic, work-, and health-related disadvantages could potentially reduce their risk of premature death

Intergenerational patterns of mental health problems : the role of childhood peer status position

Background: Past research has established the intergenerational patterning of mental health: children whose parents have mental health problems are more likely to present with similar problems themselves. However, there is limited knowledge about the extent to which factors related to the child's own social context, such as peer relationships, matter for this patterning. The aim of the current study was to examine the role of childhood peer status positions for the association in mental health across two generations. Methods: The data were drawn from a prospective cohort study of 14,608 children born in 1953, followed up until 2016, and their parents. Gender-specific logistic regression analysis was applied. Firstly, we examined the associations between parental mental health problems and childhood peer status, respectively, and the children's mental health problems in adulthood. Secondly, the variation in the intergenerational patterning of mental health according to peer status position was investigated. Results: The results showed that children whose parents had mental health problems were around twice as likely to present with mental health problems in adulthood. Moreover, lower peer status position in childhood was associated with increased odds of mental health problems. Higher peer status appeared to mitigate the intergenerational association in mental health problems among men. For women, a u-shaped was found, indicating that the association was stronger in both the lower and upper ends of the peer status hierarchy. Conclusions: This study has shown that there is a clear patterning in mental health problems across generations, and that the child generation's peer status positions matter for this patterning. The findings also point to the importance of addressing gender differences in these associations

Childhood Peer Status and the Clustering of Adverse Living Conditions in Adulthood

Within the context of the school class, children attain a social position in the peer hierarchy to which varying amounts of status are attached. Several studies have shown that children’s peer status is associated with a wide range of social and health-related outcomes. These studies commonly target separate outcomes, paying little attention to the fact that such circumstances are likely to go hand in hand. The overarching aim of the present study was therefore to examine the impact of childhood peer status on the clustering of living conditions in adulthood. Based on a 1953 cohort born in Stockholm, Sweden, multinomial regression analysis demonstrated that children who had lower peer status also had exceedingly high risks of ending up in more problem-burdened clusters as adults. Moreover, these associations remained after adjusting for a variety of family-related circumstances. We conclude that peer status constitutes a central aspect of children’s upbringing with important consequences for subsequent life chances, over and above the influences originating from the family

Friends' childhood adversity and long-term implications for substance misuse : a prospective Swedish cohort study

Background and aims Although an individual's childhood adversity is predictive of later substance misuse, the effect of adversity within an individual's friendship network has not been established. The current study aims to estimate the strength of the association between exposure to childhood adversity among individuals’ friends at the onset of adolescence, relative to individuals’ own exposure to childhood adversity, and hospitalization for substance misuse between young adulthood and retirement. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Stockholm, Sweden. Participants Individuals born in 1953, living in Stockholm in 1963, and who nominated three best friends in the 6th grade school class (n = 7180; females = 3709, males = 3471), followed to 2016. Measurements The outcome was hospitalization with a main or secondary diagnosis attributed to substance misuse, reflected in Swedish inpatient records (ages 19–63 years). Five indicators of childhood adversity (ages 0–12 years) were operationalized into composite measures for individuals and their friends, respectively. Friendships were identified using sociometric data collected in the school class setting (age 13 years). Findings Individuals’ own childhood adversity does not predict childhood adversity among friends (P > 0.05). Childhood adversity among friends is independently associated with an increased risk of an individual's later substance misuse [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.17, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.09–1.24], independently of an individual's own childhood adversity (HR = 1.47, 95% CI = 1.34–1.61). However, childhood adversity among friends does not moderate the association between individuals’ own childhood adversity and later substance misuse. Conclusions Within a birth cohort of individuals born in 1950s Stockholm, Sweden, childhood adversity among an individual's friends appears to predict the individual's substance misuse in later life independently of an individual's own exposure to childhood adversity.Peer reviewe