Kendra R Smith
Biographic Data
| ID | 76723 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Kendra R Smith |
| GIVEN NAMES | Kendra R |
| FAMILY NAME | Smith |
| SIGNATURE | SMITH K R |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Utah |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-0682-3705 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 89 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 564 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 89 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1986 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 13 |
In Utero Selection Echoes Across a Lifetime: Evidence From Historical Utah Populations
The sex ratio at birth in 19th and early 20th century cohorts gauges important demographic selection processes that appear detectable well into older age
How Cause-Specific Mortality Contributes to Sex Differences in Life Expectancy over Time. Trends in Utah and Denmark
Female life expectancy exceeds male life expectancy. To better understand the basis for this discrepancy, we use Arriaga decomposition methods to examine differences in life expectancy by exploring age-specific and cause-specific mortality differences between the sexes and how these differences arise over time and between two distinct populations, Denmark and Utah (U.S.). Our focus is on how specific causes point to shifts in secular circumstance…
The Secondary Sex Ratio and Male Mortality at Pre‐Reproductive Ages: A Test of Selection In Utero
OBJECTIVES: The secondary sex ratio (i.e., the ratio of male to female live births; hereafter referred to as the SSR) falls in populations encountering ambient stressors. Much theory and some empirical work indicates that males born to low SSR cohorts may be "positively selected" in that excess culling in utero may correspond with greater than expected survival among live-born males in that cohort. We extend prior work by testing, in historical U…
Sun protection, sunburn, tanning, and family factors among melanoma survivors and their minor children
Use of recommended sun protection strategies among minor children of melanoma survivors is suboptimal and as a result, these children receive excess ultraviolet radiation exposure that further increases their melanoma risk. Among a sample of 368 melanoma survivor-child dyads, the relationship between family-focused factors and child sun protection and related outcomes was examined, as well as the relations of family factors with individual sun-pr…
Disparities in Long-Term Mortality Following Bariatric Surgery Between Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White Patients
Lean legacy, heavy heritage: Family history of diabetes and its association with young adult body mass index
Substantial intergenerational transmission of diabetes mellitus (DM) risk exists. However, less is known regarding whether parental DM and DM among extended family members relate to adult offspring’s body mass index (BMI), and whether any of these associations vary by sex. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997 cohort (NLSY97), we assess the sex-specific relationship between DM present in first-degree parents and second-deg…
Social inequities in neighborhood health amenities over time in the Wasatch Front Region of Utah: Historical inequities, population selection, or differential investment
Mortality risk following end-of-life caregiving: A population-based analysis of hospice users and their families
Introduction: Major Databases with Historical Longitudinal Population Data: Development, Impact and Results
Over the last 60 years several major historical databases with reconstructed life courses of large populations spanning decades have been launched. The development of these databases is indicative of considerable investments that have greatly expanded the possibilities for new research within the fields of history, demography, sociology, as well as other disciplines. In this volume spanning seven articles, eight databases are included that have h…
The changing food environment and neighborhood prevalence of type 2 diabetes
In this ecological study, we used longitudinal data to assess if changes in neighborhood food environments were associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) prevalence, controlling for a host of neighborhood characteristics and spatial error correlation. We found that the population-adjusted prevalence of fast-food and pizza restaurants, grocery stores, and full-service restaurants along with changes in their numbers from 1990 to 2010 were ass…
Disparities and determinants of place of death: Insights from the Utah Population Database
To better understand determinants and potential disparities in end of life, we model decedents' place of death with explanatory variables describing familial, social, and economic resources. A retrospective cohort of 204,041 decedents and their family members are drawn from the Utah Population Database family caregiving dataset. Using multinomial regression, we model place of death, categorized as at home, in a hospital, in another location, or u…
Interviews with American Composers: Barney Childs in Conversation ed. by Virginia Anderson
Reviewed by: Interviews with American Composers: Barney Childs in Conversation ed. by Virginia Anderson Ken Smith Interviews with American Composers: Barney Childs in Conversation. Edited by Virginia Anderson. (Music in American life.) Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2022. [xiii, 428 p. ISBN 978-0-252-04399-4 (hardcover). $60.00. ISBN 978-0-252-05292-7 (e-book)] Back in the 1970s, young students were often invited to submit everyday items—a…
The Utah Population Database. A Model for Linking Medical and Genealogical Records for Population Health Research
Improving our understanding of the socio-environmental and genetic bases of disease and health outcomes among individuals, families, and populations over time requires extensive longitudinal data on multiple attributes for entire communities, states or nations. This requirement can be difficult to achieve. In this paper we describe a successful example of a database that meets these needs. The Utah Population Database (UPDB) is a unique and power…
Highly public anti-Black violence and preterm birth odds for Black and White mothers
Highly public anti-Black violence may increase preterm birth in the general population of pregnant women via stress-mediated paths, particularly Black women exposed in early gestation. To examine spillover from racial violence in the US, we included a total of 49 high publicity incidents of the following types: police lethal force toward Black persons, legal decisions not to indict/convict officers involved, and hate crime murders of Black victim…
Birth Spacing and Health and Socioeconomic Outcomes Across the Life Course: Evidence From the Utah Population Database
The relationship between birth interval length and child outcomes has received increased attention in recent years, but few studies have examined offspring outcomes across the life course in North America. We use data from the Utah Population Database to examine the relationship between birth intervals and short- and long-term outcomes: preterm birth, low birth weight (LBW), infant mortality, college degree attainment, occupational status, and ad…
The Utah Population Database. The Legacy of Four Decades of Demographic Research
This paper summarizes the unique characteristics of the Utah Population Database (UPDB) and how it has catalyzed demographic, social and medical research since the mid-1970s. The UPDB is one of the world’s richest sources of linked population-based information for demographic, genetic, and epidemiological studies at the Individual-level. UPDB has supported hundreds of demographic and biomedical investigations, with heavy emphasis on families, in …
Frail Males on the American Frontier: The Role of Environmental Harshness on Sex Ratios at Birth across a Period of Rapid Industrialization
While sex ratios at birth (SRB) have been shown to vary within and across populations, after over a century of research, explanations have remained elusive. A variety of ecological, demographic, economic, and social variables have been evaluated, yet their association with SRB has been equivocal. Here, in an attempt to shed light on this unresolved topic within the literature, we approach the question of what drives variation in SRB using detaile…
The Effects of Marital Status, Fertility, and Bereavement on Adult Mortality in Polygamous and Monogamous Households: Evidence From the Utah Population Database
Although the associations among marital status, fertility, bereavement, and adult mortality have been widely studied, much less is known about these associations in polygamous households, which remain prevalent across much of the world. We use data from the Utah Population Database on 110,890 women and 106,979 men born up to 1900, with mortality follow-up into the twentieth century. We examine how the number of wife deaths affects male mortality …
Prognostic factors for rural endometrial cancer patients in a population-based cohort
Rural endometrial cancer patients in Utah were older at diagnosis, had higher grade and higher comorbidities. While urban and rural endometrial cancer patients shared many prognostic factors, the risk of mortality is greater among rural patients with advanced stage endometrial cancer. Future studies should examine where patients are receiving treatment and how that impacts their survival and how to reduce the mortality rates of high risk patients
Examining validity of body mass index calculated using height and weight data from the US driver license
Data on height and weight from driver license data can be a useful asset for monitoring population health in states where such information is collected, despite the degree of misreporting associated with self-report
The Long Harm of Childhood: Childhood Exposure to Mortality and Subsequent Risk of Adult Mortality in Utah and The Netherlands
How do early-life conditions affect adult mortality? Research has yielded mixed evidence about the influence of infant and child mortality in birth cohorts on adult health and mortality. Studies rarely consider the specific role of mortality within the family. We estimated how individuals' exposure to mortality as a child is related to their adult mortality risk between ages 18 and 85 in two historical populations, Utah (USA) 1874-2015 and Zeelan…
Sex ratios and life tables: Historical demography of the age at which women outnumber men in seven countries, 1850–2016
The male/female sex ratio (SR) and its age-specific patterns vary considerably across time and place. The SR generally begins male-biased at birth and becomes female-biased later in life, but this relationship should respond to historical trends and events. Temporal trends in SRs remain largely unstudied and formal demographic relationships are not well defined. We (1) define SRs in a life table framework, (2) estimate the age at which the number…
Neighbourhood looking glass: 360O Automated Characterisation of the Built Environment for Neighbourhood Effects Research
BACKGROUND: Neighbourhood quality has been connected with an array of health issues, but neighbourhood research has been limited by the lack of methods to characterise large geographical areas. This study uses innovative computer vision methods and a new big data source of street view images to automatically characterise neighbourhood built environments. METHODS: A total of 430 000 images were obtained using Google's Street View Image API for Sal…
Tykes, Toddlers, Teens, and Twins of Robust Mothers: Do the Offspring of Twinning Mothers Share in Their Mother’s Robust Phenotype
at older ages in certain categories of male singleton offspring - a likely reflection of mortality selection. The findings suggest that while bearing twins may reflect a robust maternal phenotype, the toll of bearing twins may disadvantage subsequent offspring, especially during infancy
Analyzing walking route choice through built environments using random forests and discrete choice techniques
Walking is a form of active transportation with numerous benefits, including better health outcomes, lower environmental impacts and stronger communities. Understanding built environmental associations with walking behavior is a key step towards identifying design features that support walking. Human mobility data available through GPS receivers and cell phones, combined with high resolution walkability data, provide a rich source of georeference…
Phantom of the area: Poverty-area residence and mortality in the United States
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study was to conduct a national multivariate analysis on poverty-area residence and mortality in the United States. METHODS: Proportional hazards analyses were performed of the effect of poverty-area residence on the risk of mortality among adult examinees in the 1971 through 1974 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey who were followed through 1987. RESULTS: Poverty-area residence was associated with sign…
Effects of childhood and middle-adulthood family conditions on later-life mortality: Evidence from the Utah Population Database, 1850-2002
Marital Transitions, Poverty, and Gender Differences in Mortality
Studies of the causes of marital status differentials in mortality have generally concluded that marriage serves to protect individuals from premature death. The analyses presented in this article extend this work by examining how recent marital transitions and associated levels of economic status affect mortality. With a health production model and micro-level data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics [for the United States] sex-specific prop…
Running to the Store? The relationship between neighborhood environments and the risk of obesity
Mixed land use and walkability: Variations in land use measures and relationships with BMI, overweight, and obesity
Linked Lives, Dependent Demise? Survival Analysis of Husbands and Wives
Past research has found that married individuals have substantially lower risks of mortality than their single counterparts. This paper examines how household characteristics affect spouses’ risks of mortality. A paired hazard rate model is estimated and tests are made to ascertain whether the estimated coefficients associated with risk factors differ between husbands’ and wives’ equations. Cigarette smoking, risk-avoidance behavior, poverty, and…
Double Jeopardy: Interaction Effects of Marital and Poverty Status on the Risk of Mortality
The purpose of this paper is to examine the hypothesis that marital and poverty status interact in their effects on mortality risks beyond their main effects. This study examines the epidemiological bases for applying an additive rather than a multiplicative specification when testing for interaction between two discrete risk factors. We specifically predict that risks associated with being nonmarried and with being poor .interact to produce mort…
Historical trends of survival among widows and widowers
Children's, adolescents', and young adults' thinking about different types of disagreements
Survival of offspring who experience early parental death: Early life conditions and later-life mortality
Prenatal care among immigrant and racial-ethnic minority women in a new immigrant destination: Exploring the impact of immigrant legal status
Women at work: Commitment and behavior over the life course
Remarriage patterns among recent widows and widowers
Remarriage is one of the most important determinants of physical and economic well-being among the widowed. The goal of this study is to estimate how hazard rates for remarriage vary among widows and widowers on the basis of both observable and unobservable characteristics. The remarriage estimates rely on nationally representative samples of widows and widowers from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Continuous-time hazard rate regressions indi…
Clarifying hierarchical age-period-cohort models: A rejoinder to Bell and Jones
Socio-economic status and fertility decline: Insights from historical transitions in Europe and North America
The timings of historical fertility transitions in different regions are well understood by demographers, but much less is known regarding their specific features and causes. In the study reported in this paper, we used longitudinal micro-level data for five local populations in Europe and North America to analyse the relationship between socio-economic status and fertility during the fertility transition. Using comparable analytical models and c…
Reproductive History and Later-Life Comorbidity Trajectories: A Medicare-Linked Cohort Study From the Utah Population Database
Reproductive lives of men and women may provide significant insight into later-life morbidity and mortality. Sociological, biological, and evolutionary theories predict a relationship between reproductive history and later-life health; however, current research is lacking consensus on the direction of the relationship. Parity, early age at first birth and last birth, birth weight of offspring, having a child die as an infant, and having a preterm…
Offspring Socioeconomic Status and Parent Mortality Within a Historical Population
Considering a network approach to health determinants, we test the hypothesis that benefits of high socioeconomic status (SES) may be transmitted up the generational ladder from offspring to parents. Studies that examine own SES and own health outcomes, or SES of parents and outcomes of young or adolescent children, are common. Those that investigate SES of offspring and their association with parental health are rare. Employing data from a histo…
The effects of occupational class transitions on hypertension: Racial disparities among working-age men
OBJECTIVES. This study was undertaken to examine how the interaction between occupational class transitions and race affects the incidence of hypertension. METHODS. A cohort of 1982 men (183 Black), ages 25 to 55, received a baseline medical exam between 1971 and 1975 and a follow-up between 1982 and 1984. Logistic regressions were estimated for hypertension at follow-up controlling for hypertension at baseline, other risk factors associated with…
Recent Widowhood, Remarriage, and Changes in Economic Well-Being
This research examines how changes in family composition due to the death of a spouse and subsequent remarriage affect economic status. The results of both descriptive analyses and a test of a simple multivariate model show that the death of a spouse translates into a substantial economic loss particularly for widows. Furthermore the economic gains for both widows and widowers who remarry are generally large compared to those of persons who remai…
Culture as a determinant of reasons for migration
This article evaluates the importance of cultural factors in the destination selection process for migrants moving into and returning to the state of Utah. As the center of the Mormon cultural region, the state provides an excellent laboratory for testing the importance of cultural determinants of migration. Migration to Utah possesses a distinct cultural flavor. Although economic reasons for selecting Utah as a destination predominate, culture a…
The Incidence of Poverty among the Recently Widowed: Mediating Factors in the Life Course
Taking a life-course perspective in the analysis of data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, this study examines severalfactors that mediate the economic consequences of widowhood. Emphasis is given in the analysis to the possible mediating influences of six life-course variables: income in the yearprior to the widowhood event, the calendaryear of widowhood, age at widowhood, sex, years of marriage, and past work experience. Logistic regress…
Marriage Markets and Male Mating Effort: Violence and Crime Are Elevated Where Men Are Rare
Life and death in the family: Early parental death, parental remarriage, and offspring suicide risk in adulthood
Harvesting More Than Vegetables: The Potential Weight Control Benefits of Community Gardening
Objectives. We examined the association of participation in community gardening with healthy body weight. Methods. We examined body mass index (BMI) data from 198 community gardening participants in Salt Lake City, Utah, in relationship to BMI data for 3 comparison groups: neighbors, siblings, and spouses. In comparisons, we adjusted for gender, age, and the year of the BMI measurement. Results. Both women and men community gardeners had signific…
Childhood socioeconomic status, adult socioeconomic status, and old-age health trajectories: Connecting early, middle, and late life
The paper advances literature on earlier-life socioeconomic status (SES) and later-life health in a number of ways, including conceptualizing later-life health as a developmental process and relying on objective rather than retrospective reports of childho
Women at work: Commitment and behavior over the life course
The Incidence of Poverty among the Recently Widowed: Mediating Factors in the Life Course
Taking a life-course perspective in the analysis of data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, this study examines severalfactors that mediate the economic consequences of widowhood. Emphasis is given in the analysis to the possible mediating influences of six life-course variables: income in the yearprior to the widowhood event, the calendaryear of widowhood, age at widowhood, sex, years of marriage, and past work experience. Logistic regress…
Gender and Poverty among the Widowed: A Comment on Smith and Zick
Recent Widowhood, Remarriage, and Changes in Economic Well-Being
This research examines how changes in family composition due to the death of a spouse and subsequent remarriage affect economic status. The results of both descriptive analyses and a test of a simple multivariate model show that the death of a spouse translates into a substantial economic loss particularly for widows. Furthermore the economic gains for both widows and widowers who remarry are generally large compared to those of persons who remai…
Passage Through Midlife: Women's Changing Family Roles and Economic Well-Being
Life course researchers have recently examined the effects of normative and non-normative pathways into adulthood but little theoretical or empirical attention has been directed at the manner and type of transitions through the middle years of the life span for women. Women in midlife typically watch their last child leave the home and significant numbers also experience the dissolution of their marriages, either by divorce or widowhood. Using da…
Remarriage patterns among recent widows and widowers
Remarriage is one of the most important determinants of physical and economic well-being among the widowed. The goal of this study is to estimate how hazard rates for remarriage vary among widows and widowers on the basis of both observable and unobservable characteristics. The remarriage estimates rely on nationally representative samples of widows and widowers from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. Continuous-time hazard rate regressions indi…
Marital Transitions, Poverty, and Gender Differences in Mortality
Studies of the causes of marital status differentials in mortality have generally concluded that marriage serves to protect individuals from premature death. The analyses presented in this article extend this work by examining how recent marital transitions and associated levels of economic status affect mortality. With a health production model and micro-level data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics [for the United States] sex-specific prop…
The Changing past: Trends in South African Historical Writing
The effects of occupational class transitions on hypertension: Racial disparities among working-age men
OBJECTIVES. This study was undertaken to examine how the interaction between occupational class transitions and race affects the incidence of hypertension. METHODS. A cohort of 1982 men (183 Black), ages 25 to 55, received a baseline medical exam between 1971 and 1975 and a follow-up between 1982 and 1984. Logistic regressions were estimated for hypertension at follow-up controlling for hypertension at baseline, other risk factors associated with…
Linked Lives, Dependent Demise? Survival Analysis of Husbands and Wives
Past research has found that married individuals have substantially lower risks of mortality than their single counterparts. This paper examines how household characteristics affect spouses’ risks of mortality. A paired hazard rate model is estimated and tests are made to ascertain whether the estimated coefficients associated with risk factors differ between husbands’ and wives’ equations. Cigarette smoking, risk-avoidance behavior, poverty, and…
Double Jeopardy: Interaction Effects of Marital and Poverty Status on the Risk of Mortality
The purpose of this paper is to examine the hypothesis that marital and poverty status interact in their effects on mortality risks beyond their main effects. This study examines the epidemiological bases for applying an additive rather than a multiplicative specification when testing for interaction between two discrete risk factors. We specifically predict that risks associated with being nonmarried and with being poor .interact to produce mort…
Culture as a determinant of reasons for migration
This article evaluates the importance of cultural factors in the destination selection process for migrants moving into and returning to the state of Utah. As the center of the Mormon cultural region, the state provides an excellent laboratory for testing the importance of cultural determinants of migration. Migration to Utah possesses a distinct cultural flavor. Although economic reasons for selecting Utah as a destination predominate, culture a…
Attitudes toward genetic testing for colon cancer risk
This study examined public interest regarding genetic testing for colon cancer susceptibility. Survey data were collected from 383 adults in Utah. Respondents were very (47.3%) or somewhat (36.6%) interested in taking this genetic test. Nearly 95% reported that they would share their results with others. Individuals with higher income and with a perceived risk of getting colon cancer were the most interested in testing. Individuals without health…
Risk of mortality following widowhood: Age and sex differences by mode of death
This study examines how spouses' deaths from sudden or lengthy illnesses differentially affect the mortality risks of surviving widows and widowers by age. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we find the mortality risk differs by gender, age, and type of widowhood. For nonelderly ( or = 65) widows, the mortality risk is lower than that of comparably aged married women when their husbands died after a long-term illness. These gender, age, an…
Children's health and their mothers’ risk of divorce or separation
The purpose of this study is to determine how children's health conditions are related to their mothers' risk of divorce or separation. The study is based on data from over 7,000 children born to once-married mothers identified in the 1988 Child Health Supplement to the National Health Interview Survey. The effects of 15 childhood health conditions on the mothers' risk of divorce are estimated with Cox's proportional hazard models. Controlling fo…
Human anatomy, second edition
Human anatomy, second edition
Phantom of the area: Poverty-area residence and mortality in the United States
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the study was to conduct a national multivariate analysis on poverty-area residence and mortality in the United States. METHODS: Proportional hazards analyses were performed of the effect of poverty-area residence on the risk of mortality among adult examinees in the 1971 through 1974 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey who were followed through 1987. RESULTS: Poverty-area residence was associated with sign…
An Introduction to the Analysis of Paired Hazard Rates in Studies of the Family
Hazard rate models in studies of the family are becoming more common. Ironically family studies scholars have generally used these techniques based on individuals rather than explicitly on couples or families. We describe and apply selected techniques used to analyze paired hazard rates when event times are right censored. We illustrate the techniques by looking at mortality patterns in husbands and wives. Recently developed measures and models a…
Children's, adolescents', and young adults' thinking about different types of disagreements
Fertility and post-reproductive longevity
We examine the effects of reproduction on longevity among mothers and fathers after age 60. This study is motivated by evolutionary theories of aging and theories predicting social benefits and costs of children to older parents. We use the Utah Population Database, that includes a large genealogical database from the Utah Family History Library. Cox proportional hazard models based on 13,987 couples married between 1860-1899 indicate that women …
Historical trends of survival among widows and widowers
Double impact: What sibling data can tell us about the long-term negative effects of parental divorce
Most prior research on the adverse consequences of parental divorce has analyzed only one child per family. As a result, it is not known whether the same divorce affects siblings differently. We address this issue by analyzing paired sibling data from the 1994 General Social Survey (GSS) and 1994 Survey of American Families (SAF). Both seemingly unrelated regressions and random effects models are used to study the effect of family background on o…
Adult mortality risks and religious affiliation: The role of social milieu in biodemographic studies
L'objectif de l'article est de preciser comment l'appartenance religieuse modifie le risque de deces. La base de donnees de la population de l'Utah est ici utilisee afin d'etudier la mortalite generale d'un echantillon d'hommes et de femmes maries qui ont survecu a leur quarantieme anniversaire. Les individus appartiennent aux generations 1850-1919, ils sont suivis pendant toute leur vie et se situent a l'epoque de la transition demographique. Le…
Walkability and Body Mass Index
Demography (65 works) · Medicine (60 works) · Sociology (51 works) · Population (48 works) · Psychology (41 works) · Gerontology (39 works) · Demography (32 works) · Health disparities and outcomes (29 works) · Environmental health (25 works) · Geography (23 works)