Amanda Sacker
Biographic Data
| ID | 222956 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Amanda Sacker |
| GIVEN NAMES | Amanda |
| FAMILY NAME | Sacker |
| SIGNATURE | SACKER A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University College London |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8796-5398 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 79 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 667 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 79 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1999 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 15 |
Is foster caring associated with an earlier transition to adulthood for caregivers’ own children? ONS Longitudinal Study
This study investigates whether existing children in a fostering household differ from young people in non-caregiving households in the timing of their transitions to key adult roles, which are known to affect later health and life chances. Using data from the ONS Longitudinal Study, we pooled records from census years 1971–2001 and linked them to follow-up records from 1981–2011. We identified 2,656 children living with a foster child and compar…
Changes in labour market histories and their relationship with paid work around state pension age: Evidence from three British longitudinal studies
Many countries have implemented policies to extend working lives in response to population ageing, yet there remains little understanding of what drives paid work in later life, nor how this is changing over time. This paper utilises the 1988/89 Survey of Retirement and Retirement Plans, the 1999 British Household Panel Survey and the 2008 English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, to investigate drivers of paid work in the ten years surrounding state…
Testing lifecourse theories characterising associations between maternal depression and offspring depression in emerging adulthood: The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children
BACKGROUND: Maternal depression is a major determinant of offspring mental health. Yet, little is understood about how the duration and timing of maternal depression shapes youth risk for depressive symptoms, which if understood could inform when best to intervene. This study aimed to determine how the timing and duration of maternal depression was related to offspring depression in emerging adulthood, and if these associations varied by sex. MET…
Mental health and social difficulties of late‐diagnosed autistic children, across childhood and adolescence
BACKGROUND: Autism can be diagnosed from 2 years of age, although most autistic people receive their diagnosis later than this after they have started education. Research is required to understand why some autistic children are diagnosed late, and the level and nature of unmet need prior to diagnosis for late-diagnosed children. METHODS: We examined trajectories of emotional, behavioural and social difficulties (EBSDs) across childhood and adoles…
Out-of-home care in childhood and socio-economic functioning in adulthood: ONS Longitudinal study 1971–2011
Has the distribution of smoking across young adult transition milestones changed over the past 20 years? Evidence from the 1970 British Cohort Study (1996) and Next Steps (2015–16)
Despite considerable changes in smoking and the transition to adulthood over the past two decades, the distribution of smoking at ages 25-26 across transition milestones has been relatively stable during this time period in Great Britain
Comparing socio-economic inequalities in healthy ageing in the United States of America, England, China and Japan: Evidence from four longitudinal studies of ageing
Healthy ageing has become a popular topic worldwide. So far, a consensus measure of healthy ageing has not been reached; and no studies have compared the magnitude of socio-economic inequality in healthy ageing outside Europe. This study aims to create a universal measure of healthy ageing and compare socio-economic inequalities in healthy ageing in the United States of America (USA), England, China and Japan. We included 10,305 American, 6,590 E…
Changes in Patterns of Social Role Combinations at Ages 25–26 among Those Growing Up in England between 1996 and 2015–16: Evidence from the 1970 British Cohort and Next Steps Studies
Changes across education, employment, and family life over the past 20 years challenges the capacity of previously established social role combinations to continue representing the experiences of young men and women born since the late 1980s. Latent class analysis was used to derive patterns of role combinations at ages 25–26 in those growing up in England, using data from 3191 men and 3921 women in the 1970 British Cohort Study (1996) and 3426 m…
Birth Order and First Sexual Experience: Do Siblings Influence Sexual Debut in Adolescents
Birth order may foster specific roles for individuals within the family and set in train a dynamic that influences the development of specific behaviors. In this paper, we explored the relationship between birth order, sex, timing of sexual initiation, and its consequences for risky sexual behavior and sexual health. We conducted a path analysis to simultaneously estimate direct and indirect effects using data from the National Survey of Sexual A…
Association of childhood out-of-home care status with all-cause mortality up to 42-years later: Office of National Statistics Longitudinal Study
In this large, nationally representative study of dependent children resident in England and Wales, those who had been in care during childhood had a higher risk of mortality long after they had left care on average, mainly from unnatural causes. No differences by age or gender were found. Children in care have not benefitted from the general decline in mortality risk over time
Relationship satisfaction and concordance in attitudes to maternal employment in British couples with young children
Changes in paid labor in families have occurred within the wider context of societal changes in gendered attitudes to work. However, changes in behavior and attitudes are not necessarily correlated with each other, and their associations with family relationships are complex. This study uses data from over 12,000 two-parent families in the U.K.'s Millennium Cohort Study, a nationally representative cohort of children born during 2000-2002. The st…
Gender Divisions of Paid and Unpaid Work in Contemporary UK Couples
This article uses data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study to describe how contemporary British couples divide a range of work types. Our findings support the hypothesis, suggested by previous authors, that a shared egalitarian ideology is required for gender equality in divisions of work. In response to bargaining theories, the article also hypothesises that differentials in educational attainment within couples are more strongly associated…
Validating overcrowding measures using the UK Household Longitudinal Study
Overcrowding has been regarded as indicating material deprivation and treated as a proxy measure for individual socioeconomic status. Conventionally, 'persons per room' (PPR) has been employed to identify overcrowded households in UK survey data, though the 'bedroom standard' (BS) approach or the 'modified bedroom standard' (MBS) approach has been thought to capture overcrowded households better. Little is known about which overcrowding measure w…
Health and voting over the course of adulthood: Evidence from two British birth cohorts
Systematic differences in voter turnout limit the capacity of public institutions to address the needs of under-represented groups. One critical question relates to the role of health as a mechanism driving these inequalities. This study explores the associations of self-rated health (SRH) and limitations in everyday activities with voting over the course of adulthood in the 1958 National Child Development Study and the 1970 British Cohort Study.…
Re-thinking social exclusion in later life: A case for a new framework for measurement
Social exclusion is a dynamic multi-dimensional process that is interactive in nature. The complex interplay between domains, whereby each domain can act as a determinant, indicator and/or outcome of social exclusion, hinders understanding of the process and the mechanisms through which social exclusion exists. This article highlights the need to disentangle these pathways and move beyond descriptive accounts of social exclusion, presenting a new…
Family structure trajectories and early child health in the UK: Pathways to health
A large body of literature has shown marked differences in the average levels of resources and child well-being across different family structures. Studies have examined cognitive, educational and behavioural outcomes; less is known about differentials in physical health, and about dynamics in early childhood. Furthermore, up to the present time, less emphasis has been placed on describing the underlying mechanisms relating childhood experiences …
Internalising and externalising behaviour profiles across childhood: The consequences of changes in the family environment
Socioemotional wellbeing of mixed race/ethnicity children in the UK and US: Patterns and mechanisms
Existing literature suggests that mixed race/ethnicity children are more likely to experience poor socioemotional wellbeing in both the US and the UK, although the evidence is stronger in the US. It is suggested that this inequality may be a consequence of struggles with identity formation, more limited connections with racial/ethnic/cultural heritage, and increased risk of exposure to racism. Using data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study (n = 1…
Gender differences in the associations between age trends of social media interaction and well-being among 10-15 year olds in the UK
High levels of social media interaction in early adolescence have implications for well-being in later adolescence, particularly for females. The lack of an association among males suggests other factors might be associated with their reduction in well-being with age. These findings contribute to the debate on causality and may inform future policy and interventions
Relationship between employment histories and frailty trajectories in later life: Evidence from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing
BACKGROUND: Given the acceleration of population ageing and policy changes to extend working lives, evidence is needed on the ability of older adults to work for longer. To understand more about the health impacts of work, this study examined the relationship between employment histories before retirement and trajectories of frailty thereafter. METHODS: The sample comprised 2765 women and 1621 men from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. We…
Health and social exclusion in older age: Evidence from Understanding Society, the UK household longitudinal study
BACKGROUND: Social exclusion of the elderly is a key policy focus but evidence on the processes linking health and social exclusion is hampered by the variety of ways that health is used in social exclusion research. We investigated longitudinal associations between health and social exclusion using an analytical framework that did not conflate them. METHODS: Data employed in this study came from 4 waves of Understanding Society, the UK Household…
Age at first birth and cardiovascular risk factors in the 1958 British birth cohort
BACKGROUND: To assess relationships between age at first birth and cardiovascular risk factors in a large longitudinal study of men and women. By assessing associations for both genders, we were able to investigate biological versus social and behavioural explanations from early life through to adulthood. METHODS: Multiply-imputed data on more than 7600 men and women of a British birth cohort study (National Child Development Study, 1958 British …
Is being in paid work beyond state pension age beneficial for health? Evidence from England using a life-course approach
BACKGROUND: Given the current policy emphasis in many Western societies on extending working lives, we investigated the health effects of being in paid work beyond state pension age (SPA). Until now, work has largely focused on the health of those who exit the labour force early. METHODS: Our data come from waves 2-4 of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, including the life history interview at wave 3. Using logistic and linear regression m…
Fathers' Involvement: Correlates and Consequences for Child Socioemotional Behavior in the United Kingdom
This study investigated longitudinal relationships between fathers' involvement, as measured by reading, and child socioemotional behavior between infancy and age 7 in 9,238 intact two-parent families from the U.K. Millennium Cohort Study, a national cohort of British children born between 2000 and 2002. Once a variety of covariates and the potential bidirectional nature of relationships were taken into account, a path model showed that fathers' …
What influences 11-year-olds to drink? Findings from the Millennium Cohort Study
Examining drinking at this point in the lifecourse has potentially important public health implications as around one in seven 11 year olds have drank, although the vast majority are yet to explore alcohol. Findings support interventions working at multiple levels that incorporate family and peer factors to help shape choices around risky behaviours including drinking
Health selection in the Whitehall II study, UK
Gender Divisions of Paid and Unpaid Work in Contemporary UK Couples
This article uses data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study to describe how contemporary British couples divide a range of work types. Our findings support the hypothesis, suggested by previous authors, that a shared egalitarian ideology is required for gender equality in divisions of work. In response to bargaining theories, the article also hypothesises that differentials in educational attainment within couples are more strongly associated…
Early Maternal Time Investment and Early Child Outcomes
Using large longitudinal survey data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study, this article estimates the relationship between maternal time inputs and early child development. We find that maternal time is a quantitatively important determinant of skill formation and that its effect declines with child age. There is evidence of long‐term effects of early maternal time inputs on later outcomes, especially in the case of cognitive skill development. In…
Pathways to obesity: Identifying local, modifiable determinants of physical activity and diet
Time on my side? Life course trajectories of poverty and health
Social position, social roles and women's health in England: Changing Relationships 1984-1993
Measuring the Social Environment: Social Cohesion and Material Deprivation in English and Scottish Neighbourhoods
Despite increasing interest in macrosocial determinants of health, progress has been hampered by a lack of information on contextual factors and a lack of clarity in defining aspects of the social environment which may be important. A theoretical and empirical approach to measuring social cohesion in neighbourhoods in England and Scotland is described. Some forms of social networks, such as contact with friends and participation in organised grou…
Employment status, employment conditions, and limiting illness: Prospective evidence from the British household panel survey 1991–2001
Objectives: To assess the relation of the incidence of, and recovery from, limiting illness to employment status, occupational social class, and income over time in an initially healthy sample of working age men and women. Methods: Cox proportional hazards models. Results: There were large differences in the risk of limiting illness according to occupational social class, with men and women in the least favourable employment conditions nearly fou…
Understanding social variation in cardiovascular risk factors in women and men: The Advantage of Theoretically Based Measures
Social inequality in educational achievement and psychosocial adjustment throughout childhood: Magnitude and Mechanisms
Dimensions of social inequality in the health of women in England: Occupational, Material and Behavioural Pathways
Socio-economic adversity and psychosocial adjustment: A Developmental-Contextual Perspective
Socioeconomic Adversity, Educational Resilience, and Subsequent Levels of Adult Adaptation
The aim of this article is to determine the extent to which individual, family, and contextual resources influence the school adjustment of 16-year-old teenagers and to investigate their consequent adult attainments at age 33. Adopting a longitudinal perspective, the experiences of more than 9,000 socially advantaged and disadvantaged young people are compared. The study shows that socioeconomic adversity is a significant risk factor for educatio…
Do labour market status transitions predict changes in psychological well-being
BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to establish the direction of causality in the relationship between labour market status and psychological well-being by investigating how transitions between secure employment, insecure employment, unemployment, permanent sickness and other economic inactivity predict changes in psychological well-being over a 16-year period. METHOD: This study used data from the British Household Panel Survey (1991-20…
Socioeconomic inequalities in health dynamics: A comparison of Britain and the United States
Social dynamics of health inequalities: A growth curve analysis of aging and self assessed health in the British household panel survey 1991–2001
Objectives: To study how social inequalities change as people age, this paper presents a growth curve model of self assessed health, which accommodates changes in occupational class and individual health with age. Design: Nationally representative interview based longitudinal survey of adults in Great Britain. Setting: Representative members of private households of Great Britain in 1991. Participants: Survey respondents (n = 6705), aged 21–59 ye…
Fathers' Involvement: Correlates and Consequences for Child Socioemotional Behavior in the United Kingdom
This study investigated longitudinal relationships between fathers' involvement, as measured by reading, and child socioemotional behavior between infancy and age 7 in 9,238 intact two-parent families from the U.K. Millennium Cohort Study, a national cohort of British children born between 2000 and 2002. Once a variety of covariates and the potential bidirectional nature of relationships were taken into account, a path model showed that fathers' …
Financial capability and psychological health
Social influences on trajectories of self-rated health: Evidence from Britain, Germany, Denmark and the USA
BACKGROUND: This study investigates social inequalities in self-rated health dynamics for working-aged adults in four nations, representing distinct welfare regime types. The aims are to describe average national trajectories of self-rated health over a 7-year period, identify social determinants of cross-sectional and longitudinal health and compare cross-national patterns. METHODS: Data are from national household panel surveys in Britain, Germ…
Self-Rated Health Trajectories in the United States and the United Kingdom: A Comparative Study
Objectives. We reviewed literature on comparative social policy and life course research and compared associations between health and socioeconomic circumstances during an 11-year period in the United States and the United Kingdom. Methods. We obtained data from the US Panel Study of Income Dynamics and the British Household Panel Survey (1990–2002). We used latent transition analysis to examine change in self-rated health from one discrete state…
Work-Family Life Courses and Subjective Wellbeing in the MRC National Survey of Health and Development (the 1946 British birth cohort study)
Studies investigating the impact of combining paid work and family life on wellbeing have generally used information at one or a limited number of points in the life course, and have mainly focused on women. This study uses multi-channel sequence analysis to characterise work-family life courses across adulthood (ages 16-60) for more than 1500 men and women in the MRC National Study of Health and Development. Wellbeing at age 60-64 was captured b…
Ethnic differences in children's socioemotional difficulties: Findings from the Millennium Cohort Study
This paper investigates ethnic differences in children's socioemotional difficulties and possible explanations for any observed inequalities. We used data collected from the fourth sweep of the Millennium Cohort Study when children were aged 7 years. We found that Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and Black Caribbean children had significantly more socioemotional difficulties than White children. These differences were partially explained by the relative s…
Friends are equally important to men and women, but family matters more for men's well-being
BACKGROUND: People with larger social networks are known to have better well-being; however, little is known about (1) the association with socio-demographic factors that may predict the size and composition of social networks and (2) whether the association with well-being is independent of pre-existing psychological health or socio-demographic factors. METHODS: The authors used information collected from 3169 men and 3512 women who were born in…
Family structure trajectories and early child health in the UK: Pathways to health
A large body of literature has shown marked differences in the average levels of resources and child well-being across different family structures. Studies have examined cognitive, educational and behavioural outcomes; less is known about differentials in physical health, and about dynamics in early childhood. Furthermore, up to the present time, less emphasis has been placed on describing the underlying mechanisms relating childhood experiences …
Is being in paid work beyond state pension age beneficial for health? Evidence from England using a life-course approach
BACKGROUND: Given the current policy emphasis in many Western societies on extending working lives, we investigated the health effects of being in paid work beyond state pension age (SPA). Until now, work has largely focused on the health of those who exit the labour force early. METHODS: Our data come from waves 2-4 of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, including the life history interview at wave 3. Using logistic and linear regression m…
Understanding social variation in cardiovascular risk factors in women and men: The Advantage of Theoretically Based Measures
Social position, social roles and women's health in England: Changing Relationships 1984-1993
Dimensions of social inequality in the health of women in England: Occupational, Material and Behavioural Pathways
Social inequality in educational achievement and psychosocial adjustment throughout childhood: Magnitude and Mechanisms
Socio-economic adversity and psychosocial adjustment: A Developmental-Contextual Perspective
Health selection in the Whitehall II study, UK
Measuring the Social Environment: Social Cohesion and Material Deprivation in English and Scottish Neighbourhoods
Despite increasing interest in macrosocial determinants of health, progress has been hampered by a lack of information on contextual factors and a lack of clarity in defining aspects of the social environment which may be important. A theoretical and empirical approach to measuring social cohesion in neighbourhoods in England and Scotland is described. Some forms of social networks, such as contact with friends and participation in organised grou…
Socioeconomic Adversity, Educational Resilience, and Subsequent Levels of Adult Adaptation
The aim of this article is to determine the extent to which individual, family, and contextual resources influence the school adjustment of 16-year-old teenagers and to investigate their consequent adult attainments at age 33. Adopting a longitudinal perspective, the experiences of more than 9,000 socially advantaged and disadvantaged young people are compared. The study shows that socioeconomic adversity is a significant risk factor for educatio…
Employment status, employment conditions, and limiting illness: Prospective evidence from the British household panel survey 1991–2001
Objectives: To assess the relation of the incidence of, and recovery from, limiting illness to employment status, occupational social class, and income over time in an initially healthy sample of working age men and women. Methods: Cox proportional hazards models. Results: There were large differences in the risk of limiting illness according to occupational social class, with men and women in the least favourable employment conditions nearly fou…
Time and place: Putting individual health into context. A multilevel analysis of the British household panel survey, 1991–2001
Social dynamics of health inequalities: A growth curve analysis of aging and self assessed health in the British household panel survey 1991–2001
Objectives: To study how social inequalities change as people age, this paper presents a growth curve model of self assessed health, which accommodates changes in occupational class and individual health with age. Design: Nationally representative interview based longitudinal survey of adults in Great Britain. Setting: Representative members of private households of Great Britain in 1991. Participants: Survey respondents (n = 6705), aged 21–59 ye…
Time on my side? Life course trajectories of poverty and health
Social inequalities in self reported health in early old age: Follow-up of prospective cohort study
OBJECTIVE: To describe differences in trajectories of self reported health in an ageing cohort according to occupational grade. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study of office based British civil servants (1985-2004). PARTICIPANTS: 10 308 men and women aged 35-55 at baseline, employed in 20 London civil service departments (the Whitehall II study); follow-up was an average of 18 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Physical component and mental component sco…
Self-Rated Health Trajectories in the United States and the United Kingdom: A Comparative Study
Objectives. We reviewed literature on comparative social policy and life course research and compared associations between health and socioeconomic circumstances during an 11-year period in the United States and the United Kingdom. Methods. We obtained data from the US Panel Study of Income Dynamics and the British Household Panel Survey (1990–2002). We used latent transition analysis to examine change in self-rated health from one discrete state…
Pathways to obesity: Identifying local, modifiable determinants of physical activity and diet
Educational resilience in later life: Resources and assets in adolescence and return to education after leaving school at age 16
Impact of Coronary Heart Disease on Health Functioning in an Aging Population: Are There Differences According to Socioeconomic Position
OBJECTIVE: To examine differences in the effect of coronary heart disease (CHD) on health functioning according to socioeconomic position. Research on social inequality in health has tended to concentrate on differences in disease prevalence and mortality rather than on the impact of disease on functioning. As outcomes improve for those with CHD, it is important to know how their health is affected in the long term. METHODS: The analysis uses que…
The effect of employment on psychological health in mid-adulthood: Findings from the 1970 British Cohort Study
BACKGROUND: A negative link between unemployment and psychological health is well documented, yet little is known about the protective effect of continuous employment on psychological health. METHOD: In this prospective population-based cohort study, the effect of continuous employment on psychological health was examined, using individuals born in Great Britain during a week of April 1970. Respondents (2901 men and 3288 women) who were employed …
Social Inequality in Physical and Mental Health Comorbidity Dynamics
OBJECTIVE: To examine how socioeconomic position influences physical and mental health dynamics. METHODS: The Whitehall II study of civil servants collected questionnaires on six occasions from 1991/93 to 2006/07. Civil service grade measured socioeconomic position and Short Form 36 General Health Survey component scores rated physical and mental health. Bivariate growth curve models of physical and mental health over 15 years were estimated for …
Age trajectories of quality of life among older adults: Results from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing
Paths to literacy and numeracy problems: Evidence from two British birth cohorts
BACKGROUND: To test a life course model linking circumstances of origin to self-reported literacy and numeracy problems in midlife, and to investigate the effects in this model of changing social circumstances in two post-war cohorts. METHODS: Based on data from men and women in the British 1946 and 1958 birth cohorts, we used the relative index of inequality and logistical regression to test associations between father's occupation, childhood co…
Social influences on trajectories of self-rated health: A comparative study of four OECD countries
Objective: We describe a series of nested life course models that correspond to the critical period, accumulation, and social mobility models and test them simultaneously, on multiple CVD risk factors in, a large cohort study.Design: Prospective birth cohort study.Setting: England
Light drinking during pregnancy: Still no risk for socioemotional difficulties or cognitive deficits at 5 years of age? Findings from the UK Millennium Cohort Study
Objectives: To investigate the impact of medication on 20-year trends in BP and blood lipids in older British men.Design: Longitudinal study.Setting: 24 British towns.Participants: 4231 men from a socially and geographically representative cohort of older British men, examined at baseline (1978-80, aged 40-59 years) and after 20 years (1998)(1999)(2000).Main Outcome Measures: 20-year trends in systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressu…
Breastfeeding is associated with improved child cognitive development: Evidence from the UK Millennium Cohort Study
preterm. Number of grandchildren increased with increasing number of children in both sexes, providing no evidence for a trade-off between quantity of offspring and their subsequent reproductive ''quality''. Conclusions: Early life characteristics can affect reproductive success even in post-demographic transition populations. These effects operate via multiple pathways and include ''biological'' characteristics such as birthweight having an effe…
Family and Nonfamily Role Configurations in Two British Cohorts
The aim of this paper is to examine variations in the combination of social roles during times of social change. We specify a latent class approach to examine role configurations for individuals in their early 30s, establishing a typology of how work- and family-related roles combine within individuals born 12 years apart and examine their antecedents. Drawing on data collected for two British Birth Cohorts born in 1958 (N= 10,706) and 1970 (N= 1…
Medicine (67 works) · Psychology (53 works) · Demography (51 works) · Sociology (37 works) · Gerontology (35 works) · Health disparities and outcomes (32 works) · Developmental psychology (31 works) · Cohort (29 works) · Population (28 works) · Social Psychology (28 works)