B L Needham
Biographic Data
| ID | 19609 |
|---|---|
| NAME | B L Needham |
| GIVEN NAMES | B L |
| FAMILY NAME | Needham |
| SIGNATURE | NEEDHAM B L |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Michigan |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5939-2027 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 56 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 534 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 56 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2004 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 13 |
Adverse birth outcomes and intergenerational exposure to multiple dimensions of structural racism among Black families in the U.S. South
In cross-sectional studies from the United States, single indicators of structural racism have been associated with adverse birth outcomes. Yet little is known about multidimensional measures of structural racism and birth outcomes, or about the impact of such measurement across generations. We constructed a multidimensional measure of structural racism and linked it to a multigenerational birth outcomes dataset of Black women from South Carolina…
Developing an Intergenerational Model of Structural Racism Exposure among Women in Black Families in South Carolina, 1989–2020
Structural racism is a key driver of health inequities among Black Americans, yet its measurement remains inconsistent. This study introduces a multigenerational model of exposure to structural racism across five domains—criminal justice, economic opportunity, educational resources, political participation, and residential segregation—among Black women in South Carolina from 1989 to 2020. It addresses key gaps by applying a lifecourse perspective…
Biological Mechanisms for Allen's Rule: DNA Methylation as Mediator of the Association Between In Utero Exposure to Environmental Heat and Tibial Growth in Childhood
OBJECTIVES: Understanding human phenotypic plasticity in response to social, ecosystem, and climate interactions can be an important tool for designing social and public health strategies that increase climate change resilience. Sensitivity of the tibia to environmental perturbations is well established; moreover, Allen's rule predicts relatively longer tibial length in hotter climates. In this study, we hypothesized DNA methylation (DNAm) change…
Health insurance and epigenetic aging: Trends in a United States adult population
Our findings suggest that epigenetic aging measures may be useful for examining the relationship between health insurance and population health, with potential implications for policy decisions
The influence of negative wealth shock on depressive symptoms and major depressive episode among older adults
A negative wealth shock (i.e., a sudden large loss in wealth) represents a stressful life event that threatens older adults' mental health. This study examines whether a negative wealth shock is associated with both 12-month major depressive episodes and 1-week depressive symptoms over time among older adults, compared to positive wealth without a shock. This study also examines whether baseline net worth moderates the association between a negat…
Social support and epigenetic aging at the intersections of race, ethnicity, and gender: Findings from NHANES 1999–2002
The connection of social support and epigenetic aging varies markedly by person.•Sufficient emotional support is linked to slower epigenetic aging among Black men.•Having close friends was associated with slower epigenetic aging among Black women.•Epigenetic aging was slower among married Black and Mexican American men.•Hannum and Weidner clocks were the most sensitive to social support variability
Racial and Social Inequities in Weathering: The Elsa-Brasil Cohort
Drought-compounded stress and immune function in Kenyan pastoralist boys and girls occupying contrasting climate zones
In spite of important differences between climate subregions, the common elements throughout the Samburu pastoralist leanscape include food and water insecurity and overall precarity exacerbated by drought and climate change. Community-driven interventions are needed to reduce precarity for young people pursuing pastoralist livelihoods
Black/White disparities in low birth weight across maternal trajectories of social mobility in South Carolina
Racial inequities in the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events in Elsa-Brasil cohort: The Mediating Role of Weathering
Death of a Parent, Racial Inequities, and Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Early toMid-adulthood
Black Americans experience the death of a parent much earlier in the life course than White Americans on average. However, studies have not considered whether the cardiovascular health consequences of early parental death vary by race. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, we explore associations between early parental death and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in early to mid-adulthood (N = 4,193). We fi…
Profiles of cardiometabolic risk and acculturation indicators among South Asians in the US: Latent class analysis of the Masala study
Background: South Asians (SA) represent the fastest growing US immigrant group, and previous studies have indicated that they face disproportionately high burden of cardiometabolic disease. Cardiometabolic disease manifests as a syndemic or synergistic epidemic encompassing multiple disease clusters influenced by biological, social, and psychological factors stemming from the acculturative process. This process may exacerbate morbidity within imm…
The study of ableism in population health: A critical review
Over the past three decades, health equity has become a guiding framework for documenting, explaining, and informing the promotion of population health. With these developments, scholars have widened public health’s aperture, bringing systems of oppression sharply into focus. Additionally, some researchers in disability and health have advocated for utilizing socially grounded frameworks to investigate the health of disabled people. Yet, naming a…
Racial and Ethnic Differences in Emotional Reactions to the Flint Water Crisis among Michigan Women in Communities Outside of Flint
The Flint Water Crisis was a racialized stressor, with potential implications for mental health inequities among Michigan women who were not directly affected by the crisis
Associations between historical and contemporary measures of structural racism and leukocyte telomere length: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (Mesa)
School Segregation During Adolescence is Associated with Higher 30-Year Cardiovascular Risk of Black but not White Young Adults
Do Police Encounters Increase the Risk for Cardiovascular Disease? Police Encounters and Framingham 30-Year Cardiovascular Risk Score
Residential Segregation and Framingham 30-Year Cardiovascular Disease Risk Among Black and White Young Adults in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health
Experiences of the Flint Water Crisis Among Reproductive-Age Michigan Women in Communities Outside of Flint: Differences by Race and Ethnicity
Network Types and Functional Health in Old Age: It is Not Just the Size of the Network That Matters
Care plans focusing on function and mobility should consider multiple aspects of older adults' social networks including network size, diversity, and relationship strain
Institutional Racism and Health: A Framework for Conceptualization, Measurement, and Analysis
Vicarious structural racism and infant health disparities in Michigan: The Flint Water Crisis
Building on nascent literature examining the health-related effects of vicarious structural racism, we examined indirect exposure to the Flint Water Crisis (FWC) as a predictor of birth outcomes in Michigan communities outside of Flint, where residents were not directly exposed to lead-contaminated water. Using linear regression models, we analyzed records for all singleton live births in Michigan from 2013 to 2016, excluding Flint, to determine …
Association of Childhood Socioeconomic Status with Leukocyte Telomere Length Among African Americans and the Mediating Role of Behavioral and Psychosocial Factors: Results from the Gene-Forecast Study
Social support, psychosocial risks, and cardiovascular health: Using harmonized data from the Jackson Heart Study, Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living in America Study, and Multi-Ethni…
Overall, we observed no strong evidence for an association between social support and CVH. However, some psychosocial risks may be modifiers. Prospective studies are needed to assess the social support-CVH relationship by psychosocial risks in racially/ethnically diverse populations
Examining relationships between perceived neighborhood social cohesion and ideal cardiovascular health and whether psychosocial stressors modify observed relationships among JHS, Mesa, and Masala part…
We did not find much support for an association between neighborhood social cohesion and LS7, but did find evidence of effect modification. Some of the effect modification results operated in unexpected directions. Future studies should examine neighborhood social cohesion more comprehensively and assess for effect modification by psychosocial stressors
You Make Me Sick: Marital Quality and Health Over the Life Course
We work from a life course perspective and identify several reasons to expect age and gender differences in the link between marital quality and health. We present growth curve evidence from a national longitudinal survey to show that marital strain accelerates the typical decline in self-rated health that occurs over time and that this adverse effect is greater at older ages. These findings fit with recent theoretical work on cumulative adversit…
Sexual Orientation, Parental Support, and Health During the Transition to Young Adulthood
Socioeconomic status, health behavior, and leukocyte telomere length in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999-2002
Rethinking gender and mental health: A critical analysis of three propositions
Academic Failure in Secondary School: The Inter-Related Role of Health Problems and Educational Context
This study explores whether the interplay of health problems and school environment predicts academic failure, an individual event with consequences for the life course, as well as for society at large. This exploration proceeds in three steps: 1) we examine whether physical and mental health problems are an academic risk factor during secondary school; 2) we investigate the academic mechanisms underlying this risk status; and 3) we explore wheth…
Sexual Attraction and Trajectories of Mental Health and Substance Use During the Transition from Adolescence to Adulthood
Reciprocal relationships between symptoms of depression and parental support during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood
Gender differences in trajectories of depressive symptomatology and substance use during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood
Health Lifestyles in Adolescence and Self-rated Health into Adulthood
Do health behaviors cluster together as health lifestyles in adolescence? Are these lifestyles socially patterned? Do these lifestyles impact physical health into adulthood? To answer these questions, we employed data from Waves 1 and 4 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health ( n = 7,827). Our latent class analysis revealed four health lifestyles: (a) low risk, (b) moderate risk with substance use, (c) moderate risk with …
Do gender differences in mental health contribute to gender differences in physical health
Socioeconomic status and cell aging in children
Gender-Specific Trends in Educational Attainment and Self-Rated Health, 1972–2002
Objectives. We tested whether self-rated health has improved over time (1972–2002) for women and men. We also considered the degree to which historical gains in educational attainment help to explain any observed trends. Methods. Using 21 years of repeated cross-sectional data from the General Social Survey, we estimated a series of ordered logistic regression models predicting self-rated health. Results. Our results show that women’s health stat…
Stress in Childhood and Adulthood: Effects on Marital Quality Over Time
We work from a stress and life course perspective to consider how stress affects trajectories of change in marital quality over time. Specifically, we ask whether stress is more likely to undermine the quality of marital experiences at different points in the life course. In addition, we ask whether the effects of adult stress on marital quality depend on childhood family stress experiences. Growth curve analysis of data from a national longitudi…
Institutional Racism and Health: A Framework for Conceptualization, Measurement, and Analysis
Neighborhood characteristics and leukocyte telomere length: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis
Negative wealth shock and short-term changes in depressive symptoms and medication adherence among late middle-aged adults
BACKGROUND: Experiencing a negative wealth shock in late middle age may cause high levels of stress and induce reductions in health-related consumption. METHODS: We used data on late middle age individuals (51-64 years) from the longitudinal US-based Health and Retirement Study (N=19 281) to examine the relationship between negative wealth shock and short-term outcomes that serve as markers of the pathways from wealth shock to health: elevated de…
Trajectories of Change in Obesity and Symptoms of Depression: The Cardia Study
Objectives. We investigated whether, over time, baseline obesity is associated with change in depressive symptoms or if baseline symptoms of depression are associated with change in body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference. Methods. We used latent growth curve modeling to examine data from years 5, 10, 15, and 20 of the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study (n = 4643). We assessed depressive symptomatology with the Center fo…
Violent Victimization and Perpetration During Adolescence: Developmental Stage Dependent Ecological Models
Telomere Length Among Older U.S. Adults: Differences by Race/Ethnicity, Gender, and Age
Findings indicate social patterns in TL by race/ethnicity, gender, and age among older adults do not reflect differences observed in most population health outcomes
Soda and Cell Aging: Associations Between Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption and Leukocyte Telomere Length in Healthy Adults From the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys
Objectives. We tested whether leukocyte telomere length maintenance, which underlies healthy cellular aging, provides a link between sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption and the risk of cardiometabolic disease. Methods. We examined cross-sectional associations between the consumption of SSBs, diet soda, and fruit juice and telomere length in a nationally representative sample of healthy adults. The study population included 5309 US adults, …
A Test of Biological and Behavioral Explanations for Gender Differences in Telomere Length: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis
The purpose of this study was to examine biological and behavioral explanations for gender differences in leukocyte telomere length (LTL), a biomarker of cell aging that has been hypothesized to contribute to women's greater longevity. Data are from a subsample (n = 851) of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, a population-based study of women and men aged 45 to 84. Mediation models were used to examine study hypotheses. We found that women…
Drought-compounded stress and immune function in Kenyan pastoralist boys and girls occupying contrasting climate zones
In spite of important differences between climate subregions, the common elements throughout the Samburu pastoralist leanscape include food and water insecurity and overall precarity exacerbated by drought and climate change. Community-driven interventions are needed to reduce precarity for young people pursuing pastoralist livelihoods
Do black/white differences in telomere length depend on socioeconomic status
Social and economic disadvantage are hypothesized to increase the risk of disease and death via accelerated biological aging. Given that US blacks are socially and economically disadvantaged relative to whites, health disparities scholars expected that blacks would have shorter telomere length-a biomarker of cell aging-than whites. Yet the majority of studies have found that blacks have longer telomere length than whites. Using data from the Nati…
Prosocial Emotion, Adolescence, and Warfare: DNA Methylation Associates with Culturally Salient Combat Variables
Sexual Orientation Discordance and Young Adult Mental Health
Academic Failure in Secondary School: The Inter-Related Role of Health Problems and Educational Context
This study explores whether the interplay of health problems and school environment predicts academic failure, an individual event with consequences for the life course, as well as for society at large. This exploration proceeds in three steps: 1) we examine whether physical and mental health problems are an academic risk factor during secondary school; 2) we investigate the academic mechanisms underlying this risk status; and 3) we explore wheth…
Stress in Childhood and Adulthood: Effects on Marital Quality Over Time
We work from a stress and life course perspective to consider how stress affects trajectories of change in marital quality over time. Specifically, we ask whether stress is more likely to undermine the quality of marital experiences at different points in the life course. In addition, we ask whether the effects of adult stress on marital quality depend on childhood family stress experiences. Growth curve analysis of data from a national longitudi…
Gender-Specific Trends in Educational Attainment and Self-Rated Health, 1972–2002
Objectives. We tested whether self-rated health has improved over time (1972–2002) for women and men. We also considered the degree to which historical gains in educational attainment help to explain any observed trends. Methods. Using 21 years of repeated cross-sectional data from the General Social Survey, we estimated a series of ordered logistic regression models predicting self-rated health. Results. Our results show that women’s health stat…
You Make Me Sick: Marital Quality and Health Over the Life Course
We work from a life course perspective and identify several reasons to expect age and gender differences in the link between marital quality and health. We present growth curve evidence from a national longitudinal survey to show that marital strain accelerates the typical decline in self-rated health that occurs over time and that this adverse effect is greater at older ages. These findings fit with recent theoretical work on cumulative adversit…
Gender differences in trajectories of depressive symptomatology and substance use during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood
Reciprocal relationships between symptoms of depression and parental support during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood
Trajectories of Change in Obesity and Symptoms of Depression: The Cardia Study
Objectives. We investigated whether, over time, baseline obesity is associated with change in depressive symptoms or if baseline symptoms of depression are associated with change in body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference. Methods. We used latent growth curve modeling to examine data from years 5, 10, 15, and 20 of the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study (n = 4643). We assessed depressive symptomatology with the Center fo…
Violent Victimization and Perpetration During Adolescence: Developmental Stage Dependent Ecological Models
Sexual Orientation, Parental Support, and Health During the Transition to Young Adulthood
Do gender differences in mental health contribute to gender differences in physical health
Sexual Attraction and Trajectories of Mental Health and Substance Use During the Transition from Adolescence to Adulthood
Socioeconomic status and cell aging in children
Socioeconomic status, health behavior, and leukocyte telomere length in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999-2002
Rethinking gender and mental health: A critical analysis of three propositions
Neighborhood characteristics and leukocyte telomere length: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis
Soda and Cell Aging: Associations Between Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption and Leukocyte Telomere Length in Healthy Adults From the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys
Objectives. We tested whether leukocyte telomere length maintenance, which underlies healthy cellular aging, provides a link between sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption and the risk of cardiometabolic disease. Methods. We examined cross-sectional associations between the consumption of SSBs, diet soda, and fruit juice and telomere length in a nationally representative sample of healthy adults. The study population included 5309 US adults, …
A Test of Biological and Behavioral Explanations for Gender Differences in Telomere Length: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis
The purpose of this study was to examine biological and behavioral explanations for gender differences in leukocyte telomere length (LTL), a biomarker of cell aging that has been hypothesized to contribute to women's greater longevity. Data are from a subsample (n = 851) of the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, a population-based study of women and men aged 45 to 84. Mediation models were used to examine study hypotheses. We found that women…
Telomere Length Among Older U.S. Adults: Differences by Race/Ethnicity, Gender, and Age
Findings indicate social patterns in TL by race/ethnicity, gender, and age among older adults do not reflect differences observed in most population health outcomes
Negative wealth shock and short-term changes in depressive symptoms and medication adherence among late middle-aged adults
BACKGROUND: Experiencing a negative wealth shock in late middle age may cause high levels of stress and induce reductions in health-related consumption. METHODS: We used data on late middle age individuals (51-64 years) from the longitudinal US-based Health and Retirement Study (N=19 281) to examine the relationship between negative wealth shock and short-term outcomes that serve as markers of the pathways from wealth shock to health: elevated de…
Sexual Orientation Discordance and Young Adult Mental Health
Acculturation Strategies and Symptoms of Depression: The Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living in America (Masala) Study
Maternal Social Disadvantage and Newborn Telomere Length in Archived Dried Blood Spots from the Michigan Neonatal Biobank
Telomeres are the protective caps at the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes. Short telomere length is associated with morbidity and mortality among adults and may mark the biological impact of social experiences. Using archived dried blood spots from the Michigan Neonatal Biobank, this study examined markers of maternal social disadvantage (educational attainment, receipt of public assistance, marital status, and race/ethnicity) from linked birth cer…
Health Lifestyles in Adolescence and Self-rated Health into Adulthood
Do health behaviors cluster together as health lifestyles in adolescence? Are these lifestyles socially patterned? Do these lifestyles impact physical health into adulthood? To answer these questions, we employed data from Waves 1 and 4 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health ( n = 7,827). Our latent class analysis revealed four health lifestyles: (a) low risk, (b) moderate risk with substance use, (c) moderate risk with …
Child and Adult Socioeconomic Status and the Cortisol Response to Acute Stress: Evidence From the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis
OBJECTIVE: A long-hypothesized pathway through which low socioeconomic status (SES) harms health is through dysregulation of the physiologic stress response systems. No previous studies have tested this hypothesis by investigating cortisol reactivity and recovery to acute stress in relation to SES at different times in the life course in adults. Alteration of the cortisol response to an acute stressor could signal dysregulation of the hypothalami…
Prosocial Emotion, Adolescence, and Warfare: DNA Methylation Associates with Culturally Salient Combat Variables
Medicine (44 works) · Psychology (31 works) · Demography (29 works) · Gerontology (29 works) · Health disparities and outcomes (25 works) · Sociology (22 works) · Environmental health (17 works) · Demography (16 works) · Ethnic group (15 works) · Population (15 works)