PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Adult children with college degrees influence parents' health in later life

2021-07-14
(Press-News.org) BUFFALO, N.Y. - Write down the benefits of obtaining a college degree and, more than likely, all the items on the completed list will relate to graduates: higher salaries, autonomous jobs and better access to health care, for instance. All of those factors, supported by extensive research, help draw a direct line connecting higher education and health. Similar research suggests how the education of parents affects their children. Now, two University at Buffalo sociologists have used a new wave of data from a survey launched in 1994 to further extend the geometry linking educational attainment and health that demonstrates another dimension of the intergenerational effects of completing college. Their findings published recently in the Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences suggest that adult children's educational attainment has an impact on their parents' mental and physical health. "By analyzing these data we arrived at the conclusion that it was detrimental to parents' self-reported health and depressive symptoms if none of their children completed college," says Christopher Dennison, PhD, assistant professor of sociology in UB's College of Arts and Sciences, and a co-author of the paper with UB colleague Kristen Schultz Lee, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Sociology. "The negative mental health outcome of the parents was in fact our strongest finding." Dennison and Lee have both used the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) in their previous research. Add Health is a nationally representative longitudinal study of over 20,000 adolescents. It is the largest such survey of its kind. There was an initial wave of data on the parents (ages 30-60) when the survey began and another wave of data from roughly 2,000 of those original participants (now ages 50-80) gathered from 2015-17. It's this latter data set that provided the researchers an opportunity to look at the intergenerational relationship between parents and children over time, while statistically balancing factors that could influence an aging parent's health. "These results are particularly important in light of growing educational inequalities in the U.S. in the last several decades," says Lee. "We know how our own education impacts our own health; we know how parents' education impacts their children in many different ways; now we're trying to add to that understanding by explaining how children's education can have an impact on their parents. "One thing I thought particularly interesting about these findings is that those parents who are the least likely to have a child attain a college education (low socioeconomic status) seem to benefit the most from a child having a college degree." Dennison and Lee speculate on a number of elements that might be driving this association, including anxiety, assistance and lifestyle. "Parents whose children have lower levels of education might spend more time worrying about their children. That has negative implications for their mental health and their self-rated health," says Lee. "Kids without a degree might need more help from their parents and are also less able to provide help if needed in return. "Another possibility is that educated children might be doing a better job of helping their parents live healthier lives by encouraging exercise and a sensible diet." What's clear is the evidence pointing to how the benefits of a college degree show up in the parents' health later in life. "In this era when a college degree is of ever-growing importance, we see how the long-term investment in education is advantageous to the adult child's health, but also has benefits down the road for their parents too," says Dennison. And it's this idea of an investment that speaks to how educational attainment reaches across generations from a policy perspective. "Historically, there has been a debate over whether or not different generations are at odds with one another, with one generation taking resources away from another older or younger generation," says Lee. "But our findings point to the fundamentally inter-related nature of the interests and needs of different generations. "Investing in one generation, in this case, positively benefits another generation."

INFORMATION:



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Virtual schooling exposes digital challenges for Black families, MU study finds

Virtual schooling exposes digital challenges for Black families, MU study finds
2021-07-14
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A new study from the University of Missouri found the unanticipated transitions to virtual schooling due to COVID-19 exposed the lack of digital resources among Black families in the United States, including access to Wi-Fi and technological savviness. As two-thirds of the country's Black children are born into single-parent households, the findings help explain the extensive stress virtual schooling caused for many Black families trying to keep their children learning and engaged online while at home during the pandemic. "What we found was parents and caregivers often felt disempowered in the rapidly changing environment, as they did not necessarily feel equipped with the tools or technological savviness to effectively engage in their children's ...

Role of subnuclear NSrp70 in immunity-studied at Gwangju Institute of Science & Technology

Role of subnuclear NSrp70 in immunity-studied at Gwangju Institute of Science & Technology
2021-07-14
T lymphocytes, or T cells, are immune cells with diverse roles in building the body's immunity. How does one particular cell type fight against a host of different pathogens? The key to this adaptability is in alternative splicing, wherein the cell produces multiple forms of proteins for identifying different types of invading viruses and microbes, as well as destroying cancer cells. So, it is not surprising that finding ways to improve the production of T cells with enhanced pathogen recognition capacity is an actively researched area of modern science. In 2011, scientists from the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) in Korea discovered a protein called NSrp70, which ...

New method makes vital fertilizer element in a more sustainable way

New method makes vital fertilizer element in a more sustainable way
2021-07-14
Urea is a critical element found in everything from fertilizers to skin care products. Large-scale production of urea, which is naturally a product of human urine, is a massive undertaking, making up about 2% of global energy use and emissions today. For decades, scientists and engineers have sought to make this process more energy efficient as demand for fertilizer grows with increased population. An international research team that includes scientists and engineers from The University of Texas at Austin has devised a new method for making urea that is more environmentally friendly than today's process ...

Roadless forests see more blazes and greater severity, but fire resilience is the result

Roadless forests see more blazes and greater severity, but fire resilience is the result
2021-07-14
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Roadless national forests in the American West burn more often and at a slightly higher severity than national forests with roads, but the end result for the roadless forests is greater fire resilience, Oregon State University researchers say. The findings, published today in Environmental Research Letters, provide a key piece of the puzzle for a region trying to develop better approaches to living with fire in the wake of a 2020 fire season that brought historically disastrous blazes. Limiting smoke exposure and reducing risk to water supplies, habitat and human infrastructure from huge, uncontrolled fires are important goals of policymakers, said James Johnston, a researcher in the OSU College of Forestry and the ...

The delicate balance of protecting river deltas and society

The delicate balance of protecting river deltas and society
2021-07-14
Hundreds of millions of people live on river deltas around the world, making them central to rich diversity in culture and thriving economies. As deltas face environmental degradation and ongoing climate change, governments have sought ever more drastic measures to prevent flooding and protect society and its infrastructure. But, these policies can harm the natural environment and lead to loss of precious land. Striking a balance between limiting deltaic land loss and maximizing cultural and economic benefit to society is a top priority in sustainability policy. Researchers ...

Molecular bridge mediates inhibitory synapse specificity in the cortex

Molecular bridge mediates inhibitory synapse specificity in the cortex
2021-07-14
With its breathtaking views and striking stature, the Golden Gate bridge certainly deserves its title as one of the modern wonders of the world. Its elegant art deco style and iconic towers offer visitors a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for astounding photographs. Stretching for almost 2 miles, the Golden Gate serves as a critical gateway, facilitating the exchange of ideas, commodities, and people. Though not to the same grandiose scale, our brains have similar gateways to connect neurons. These tiny compartments, called synapses, enable the dynamic exchange of information and the formation of neural circuits. To build these circuits, developing ...

Fire operations-prescribed burning combo reduces wildfire severity up to 72%

Fire operations-prescribed burning combo reduces wildfire severity up to 72%
2021-07-14
Firefighters battling wildfires in the western United States use a variety of suppression tactics to get the flames under control. Prescribed burns, or controlled fires intentionally set to clear shrubs and forest litter before a wildfire ever ignites, can make fire suppression operations almost three times as effective in limiting wildfire severity, according to a new study by researchers from Penn State, the U.S. National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service. "A lot happens once a fire starts burning," said Lucas Harris, a postdoctoral scholar in geography at Penn State. "Crews on the ground remove vegetation ...

Early perceptions of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania

2021-07-14
A survey conducted in March 2020 reports that early concern for COVID-19 outmatched concern for influenza, but respondents may have been less focused on their perceived likelihood of contracting COVID-19 and more concerned with its severe impact on their health. Additionally, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began advising social distancing recommendations in the early months of the pandemic, a majority of adults surveyed believed in the effectiveness of social distancing and intended to follow CDC guidelines. Health agency websites like the CDC were the most frequently identified as "trusted sources" for COVID-19 information, as opposed to substantial ...

Trust me, I'm a chatbot

Trust me, Im a chatbot
2021-07-14
More and more companies are using chatbots in customer services. Due to advances in artificial intelligence and natural language processing, chatbots are often indistinguishable from humans when it comes to communication. But should companies let their customers know that they are communicating with machines and not with humans? Researchers at the University of Göttingen investigated. Their research found that consumers tend to react negatively when they learn that the person they are talking to is, in fact, a chatbot. However, if the chatbot makes mistakes and cannot solve a customer's problem, the disclosure triggers a positive reaction. The results of the study were published ...

MD Anderson research highlights for July 14, 2021

2021-07-14
HOUSTON - The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center's Research Highlights provides a glimpse into recently published studies in basic, translational and clinical cancer research from MD Anderson experts. Current advances include a promising combination therapy for acute myeloid leukemia, understanding mechanisms driving resistance to PARP inhibitors, a therapeutic neoantigen vaccine to treat lung cancer, a novel treatment for triple-negative breast cancer and a new understanding of how telomeres may drive inflammatory bowel disease. Combination therapy shows promise in mouse models of acute myeloid leukemia Acute ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Study identifies candidates for therapeutic targets in pediatric germ cell tumors

Media alert: The global burden of CVD

Study illuminates contributing factors to blood vessel leakage

What nations around the world can learn from Ukraine

Mixing tree species does not always make forests more drought-resilient

Public confidence in U.S. health agencies slides, fueled by declines among Democrats

“Quantum squeezing” a nanoscale particle for the first time

El Niño spurs extreme daily rain events despite drier monsoons in India

Two studies explore the genomic diversity of deadly mosquito vectors

Zebra finches categorize their vocal calls by meaning

Analysis challenges conventional wisdom about partisan support for US science funding

New model can accurately predict a forest’s future

‘Like talking on the telephone’: Quantum computing engineers get atoms chatting long distance

Genomic evolution of major malaria-transmitting mosquito species uncovered

Overcoming the barriers of hydrogen storage with a low-temperature hydrogen battery

Tuberculosis vulnerability of people with HIV: a viral protein implicated

Partnership with Kenya's Turkana community helps scientists discover genes involved in adaptation to desert living

Decoding the selfish gene, from evolutionary cheaters to disease control

Major review highlights latest evidence on real-time test for blood – clotting in childbirth emergencies

Inspired by bacteria’s defense strategies

Research spotlight: Combination therapy shows promise for overcoming treatment resistance in glioblastoma

University of Houston co-leads $25 million NIH-funded grant to study the delay of nearsightedness in children

NRG Oncology PREDICT-RT study completes patient accrual, tests individualized concurrent therapy and radiation for high-risk prostate cancer

Taking aim at nearsightedness in kids before it’s diagnosed

With no prior training, dogs can infer how similar types of toys work, even when they don’t look alike

Three deadliest risk factors of a common liver disease identified in new study

Dogs can extend word meanings to new objects based on function, not appearance

Palaeontology: South American amber deposit ‘abuzz’ with ancient insects

Oral microbes linked to increased risk of pancreatic cancer

Soccer heading does most damage to brain area critical for cognition

[Press-News.org] Adult children with college degrees influence parents' health in later life