Lifecourse Educational Trajectories and Hypertension in Midlife: An Application of Sequence Analysis

Abstract Background Higher educational attainment predicts lower hypertension. Yet, associations between non-traditional educational trajectories (e.g., interrupted degree programs) and hypertension are less well understood, particularly among structurally marginalized groups who are more likely to experience these non-traditional trajectories. Methods In National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 cohort data (N=6,317), we used sequence and cluster analyses to identify groups of similar educational sequences – characterized by timing and type of terminal credential – that participants followed from age 14-48. Using logistic regression, we estimated associations between the resulting 10 educational sequences and hypertension at age 50. We evaluated effect modification by individual-level indicators of structural marginalization (race, gender, race and gender, and childhood socioeconomic status (cSES)). Results Compared to terminal high school (HS) diploma completed at traditional age, terminal GED (OR:1.32;95%CI:1.04,1.66; RR:1.21;95%CI:1.03,1.43) or Associate Degree after <HS (OR:1.93;95%CI: 1.11,3.35; RR:1.55;95%CI:1.10,2.17) was associated with higher hypertension. There was some evidence of effect modification. Hypertension associated with delayed HS diploma versus HS diploma at a traditional age (the reference) was lower for Black men than White men (interaction term:0.44;95%CI:0.21,0.91); similarly, hypertension associated with <HS versus completing HS at a traditional age was lower for people with low cSES than people with high cSES (interaction term:0.52;95%CI:0.30,0.90). Conclusions Both type and timing to terminal credential matter for hypertension but effects may vary by experiences of structural marginalization. Documenting the nuanced ways in which complex educational trajectories are associated with health could elucidate underlying mechanisms and inform systems-level interventions for health equity.

Download Full-text

Mapping Intersectionality and Latina/o and Chicana/o Students Along Educational Frameworks of Power

Review of Research in Education ◽

10.3102/0091732x18763339 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 42 (1) ◽

pp. 177-202 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Sonya M. Alemán

Keyword(s):

Graduate Students ◽

Institutional Practices ◽

Race And Gender ◽

College Age ◽

Educational Trajectories ◽

Structure And Agency ◽

Intersectional Analysis ◽

Gender Based ◽

And Gender ◽

Racist Nativism

This chapter reviews scholarship using intersectional analyses to assess how Latina/o and Chicana/o youth navigate imbricated systems of privilege and oppression in their educational trajectories. Scholars have explored the navigational tactics Latina/o and Chicana/o students use to negotiate their intersectional identities and the institutional practices that amplify or negate experiences of privilege or disenfranchisement. Others have articulated distinct forms of overlapping oppression, such as racist nativism, gendered familism, privilege paradox, and citizenship continuum. Researchers have also developed a methodology for intersectional analysis that combines both quantitative and qualitative elements, as well as a conceptual model that maps out the micro, meso, and macro levels of intersectionality to account for both structure and agency within multifaceted dynamics of power. This chapter notes the reliance on race- and gender-based frameworks, on interviews and focus groups, and on college-age or graduate students for intersectional analysis on Latina/o and Chicana/o students. Together, the chapter reveals the complexity of capturing the multitiered planes of privilege and power that intersect in dynamic ways to disenfranchise and empower Latina/o and Chicana/o students.

Download Full-text

HOW PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE IMPEDES INTERSECTIONAL THINKING

Du Bois Review Social Science Research on Race ◽

10.1017/s1742058x13000313 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 365-384 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Phillip Atiba Goff ◽

Kimberly Barsamian Kahn

Keyword(s):

Racial Discrimination ◽

Gender Discrimination ◽

White Women ◽

Social Psychological ◽

Race And Gender ◽

Individual Level ◽

Lay Conceptions ◽

Psychological Science ◽

And Gender ◽

Current Psychological

AbstractPsychological science that examines racial and gender bias, primarily located within social psychology, has tended to discount the ways in which race and gender mutually construct each other. Lay conceptions of racial and gender discrimination tend to see racism as primarily afflicting men and sexism primarily afflicting White women, when in fact race and gender are interrelated and work together intersectionally. Ignoring women's experiences of racial discrimination produces androcentric conceptions of racisms—in other words, many definitions of racial discrimination are to some degree sexist (Goff et al., 2008). Similarly, privileging the experiences of White women produces narrow definitions of gender discrimination—in other words, many definitions of gender discrimination are to some degree racist, such that they serve to reinforce the current societal hierarchies. Psychological science sometimes appears to reflect such conceptions. The result is that the social science principally responsible for explaining individual-level biases has developed a body of research that can undervalue the experiences of non-White women (Goff et al., 2008). This article examines features of social psychological science and its research processes to answer a question suggested by this framing: is the current psychological understanding of racism, to some extent, sexist and the understanding of sexism, to some extent, racist? We argue here that the instruments that much of social psychological science uses to measure racial and gender discrimination may play a role in producing inaccurate understandings of racial and gender discrimination. We also present original experimental data to suggest that lay conceptions parallel social psychology's biases: with lay persons also assuming that racism is about Black men and sexism is about White women.2 Finally, we provide some suggestions to increase the inclusivity of psychology's study of discrimination as well as reasons for optimism in this area.

Download Full-text

Referral Patterns for Youths Identified at Risk for Suicide by Trained Gatekeepers

Crisis ◽

10.1027/0227-5910/a000114 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 33 (2) ◽

pp. 113-119 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Michael S. Rodi ◽

Lucas Godoy Garraza ◽

Christine Walrath ◽

Robert L. Stephens ◽

D. Susanne Condron ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Suicide Prevention ◽

Demographic Characteristics ◽

Service Access ◽

Referral Patterns ◽

Race And Gender ◽

Lee Smith ◽

Prevention Behavior ◽

Key Variables ◽

And Gender ◽

To Receive

Background: In order to better understand the posttraining suicide prevention behavior of gatekeeper trainees, the present article examines the referral and service receipt patterns among gatekeeper-identified youths. Methods: Data for this study were drawn from 26 Garrett Lee Smith grantees funded between October 2005 and October 2009 who submitted data about the number, characteristics, and service access of identified youths. Results: The demographic characteristics of identified youths are not related to referral type or receipt. Furthermore, referral setting does not seem to be predictive of the type of referral. Demographic as well as other (nonrisk) characteristics of the youths are not key variables in determining identification or service receipt. Limitations: These data are not necessarily representative of all youths identified by gatekeepers represented in the dataset. The prevalence of risk among all members of the communities from which these data are drawn is unknown. Furthermore, these data likely disproportionately represent gatekeepers associated with systems that effectively track gatekeepers and youths. Conclusions: Gatekeepers appear to be identifying youth across settings, and those youths are being referred for services without regard for race and gender or the settings in which they are identified. Furthermore, youths that may be at highest risk may be more likely to receive those services.

Download Full-text