Childhood (Mis)fortune, Educational Attainment, and Adult Health: Contingent Benefits of a College Degree?

Social Forces; a Scientific Medium of Social Study and Interpretation
Markus H SchaferKenneth F Ferraro

Abstract

College-educated adults are healthier than other people in the United States, but selection bias complicates our understanding of how education influences health. This article focuses on the possibility that the health benefits of college may vary according to childhood (mis)fortune and people's propensity to attain a college degree in the first place. Several perspectives from life course sociology offer competing hypotheses as to whether the most or the least advantaged see the greatest return of a college education. The authors use a national survey of middle-age American adults to assess risk of two cardiovascular health problems and mortality. Results from propensity score and hierarchical regression analysis indicate that the protective effect of college attainment is indeed heterogeneous. Further, the greatest returns are among those least likely to experience this life course transition (i.e., compensatory leveling). Explanations for this selection effect are offered, along with several directions for future research on the health benefits of completing college.

References

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Citations

Nov 9, 2018·Nature Human Behaviour·Neil M DaviesFrank Windmeijer
Oct 16, 2019·The Journals of Gerontology. Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences·Emily A GreenfieldSara M Moorman
Jul 17, 2020·The Journals of Gerontology. Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences·Tirth R Bhatta
Jul 1, 2015·Society and Mental Health·Shawn Bauldry
Feb 15, 2017·International Journal of Aging & Human Development·Jiyoung Lyu, Stefan Agrigoroaei
Jan 31, 2018·Social Forces; a Scientific Medium of Social Study and Interpretation·Jamie M CarrollJohn Robert Warren
Jul 23, 2016·American Sociological Review·Kenneth F FerraroLindsay R Wilkinson
Sep 8, 2016·Journal of Health and Social Behavior·Matthew A Andersson
Mar 25, 2020·Socius : Sociological Research for a Dynamic World·Blakelee Kemp, Jennifer Karas Montez
Dec 18, 2020·The International Journal of Health Planning and Management·Yiwei LiuLing Xu
Dec 24, 2020·SSM - Population Health·Lauren Gaydosh, Sara McLanahan
Jun 30, 2021·Biodemography and Social Biology·Yi LiGuang Guo
Aug 24, 2021·European Journal of Population = Revue Européenne De Démographie·C L ComolliM Voorpostel
Dec 7, 2021·Journal of American College Health : J of ACH·Sasha RudenstineSandro Galea

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