Examining the Health Risk Pathways Between Discrimination and Accelerated Biological Aging Among a Population-Based Sample of Older Adults
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12441546 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Francisco Rios Casas (0000-0002-8302-0132, The University of Texas at Austin), C L Erving (0000-0001-5619-5482, The University of Texas at Austin), Mateo P Farina (0000-0002-0765-6550, Population Research Center, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, Texas) |
| Editors | Marc A Garcia (0000-0002-9442-4124, (Social Sciences Section)) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 80 |
| Issue | 7 |
| Publication date | 2025-06-02 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journals of Gerontology Series B (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1079-5014 • E-ISSN: 1758-5368 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1093/geronb/gbaf100 |
| PMID | 40452428 |
| OpenAlex | W4410941671 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 49 |
Objective Discrimination is a prominent stressor among older adults tied to a greater risk of disability, morbidity, and mortality. However, the underlying biological mechanisms by which discrimination impacts health outcomes are not clear. We investigated the relationship between discrimination and accelerated biological aging. We also evaluated the sensitivity of that association to the inclusion of potential health risk pathways, which link discrimination to accelerated biological aging. Methods Data on frequency and attributions for everyday discrimination came from the Health and Retirement Study (2012–2014). Biological age was estimated using 22 blood-based biomarkers collected in the 2016 Venous Blood Study. We used linear regression models to examine the association between discrimination and accelerated biological age. We used the Karlson, Holm, and Breen decomposition method to investigate what portion of the association was explained by key health risk pathways (depression, sleep, physical activity, body mass index, and smoking). Results Sixty-three percent of participants reported discrimination, attributing it mostly to their age (27%), gender (13%), or financial status (12%). Respondents reporting higher frequency of discrimination had a biological age 0.66 years older than their chronological age (p < .001). Respondents with more attributions for discrimination had an accelerated biological age of 0.61 years (p < .001). Adjustment for health risk pathways explained a statistically significant (p < .001) portion of the association for both aspects of discrimination: ~94% for frequency and ~55% for attributions. Discussion Discrimination attributed to various social characteristics can accelerate aging and, in turn, undermine health, but the association is highly modifiable, pointing to the potential importance of interventions to reduce health inequalities
Environmental health · Health and Retirement Study · Population · Population ageing · Sample (material · Health disparities and outcomes · Medicine · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Psychology · Racial and Ethnic Identity Research · Gerontology
Stigma and Group Inequality
Self-reported experiences of everyday discrimination are associated with elevated C-reactive protein levels in older African-American adults
A new approach to the concept and computation of biological age
Understanding how discrimination can affect health
Self-Reported Experiences of Discrimination and Health
Perceived Discrimination and Physical, Cognitive, and Emotional Health in Older Adulthood
Current Issues and Future Directions in Research into the Stress Process
Discrimination, Other Psychosocial Stressors, and Self-Reported Sleep Duration and Difficulties
Modeling the Rate of Senescence
The Hallmarks of Aging
Perceived racial/ethnic discrimination, smoking and alcohol consumption in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (Mesa)
Racism, Segregation, and Risk of Obesity in the Black Women's Health Study
Racial/Ethnic Discrimination and Health
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Disentangling the Stress Process
Aging on the Job? The Association Between Occupational Characteristics and Accelerated Biological Aging
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A Longitudinal Study of Social Status, Perceived Discrimination, and Physical and Emotional Health Among Older Adults
Attributions for Everyday Discrimination and All-Cause Mortality Risk Among Older Black Women
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The Association Between Perceived Discrimination and Obesity in a Population-Based Multiracial and Multiethnic Adult Sample
Perceived Discrimination and Mortality in a Population-Based Study of Older Adults
Comparing Regression Coefficients Between Same-sample Nested Models Using Logit and Probit
Racial Differences in Physical and Mental Health
Attribution for everyday discrimination typologies and mortality risk among older black adults
Racial discrimination and health-promoting vs damaging behaviors among African-American adults
The Stress Process
Total, Direct, and Indirect Effects in Logit and Probit Models
Multiple Forms of Perceived Discrimination and Health among Adolescents and Young Adults
| Highly cited | No |
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