Journal
JOURNAL OF CROSS-CULTURAL GERONTOLOGY
Volume 28, Issue 3, Pages 317-337Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s10823-013-9198-1
Keywords
Life-course; Childhood socio-economic status; Depressive symptoms; Mexico; Older adults
Categories
Funding
- NIA NIH HHS [F31 AG041694, T32 AG033533, R01 AG018016] Funding Source: Medline
- NICHD NIH HHS [R24 HD041022] Funding Source: Medline
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This study applies life-course theories of latent (direct), pathway (indirect) and conditional effects in an analysis of childhood poverty on later-life depressive symptoms among older adults in Mexico. Data are from the 2001 Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS), a nationally representative sample of older adults born before 1951 (n=8696). Respondents had a mean of 3.6 past-week depressive symptoms and 71 % had no household sanitation facilities before age 10; this measure served as a proxy for childhood poverty. Childhood poverty is significantly related to scores on an adapted 9-item CES-D scale in the full model (b=0.27, p<0.001). This effect is partially mediated by four adult socio-economic status measures, although decomposition analysis reveals the mediation effect to be primarily driven by educational achievement. These findings have important implications for Mexico's rapidly aging population as well as efforts for childhood poverty reduction and gains in education.
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