Examining the Impact of Maternal Health, Race, and Socioeconomic Status on Daughter’s Self-Rated Health Over Three Decades

Abstract

This study examines the role of mother's health and socioeconomic status on daughter's self-rated health using data spanning three decades from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Mature Women and Young Women (N = 1,848 matched mother-daughter pairs; 1,201 White and 647 African American). Using nested growth curve models, we investigated whether mother's self-rated health affected the daughter's self-rated health and whether socioeconomic status mediated this relationship. Mother's health significantly influenced daughters' self-rated health, but the findings were mediated by mother's socioeconomic status. African American daughters reported lower self-rated health and experienced more decline over time compared with White daughters, accounting for mother's and daughter's covariates. Our findings reveal maternal health and resources as a significant predictor of daughters' self-rated health and confirm the role of socioeconomic status and racial disparities over time.

A10‐YearPortrait of Theorizing in Family Gerontology: Making the Mosaic Visible

“…To develop a more coherent FG field moving forward, we reiterate Connidis's () suggestion for scholars to situate their middle‐range theories within broader theoretical frameworks. Shippee, Rowan, Sivagnanam, and Oakes () provide an example of this; they stated that cumulative inequality theory is a middle‐range theory integrating components from several theories such as life course and stress‐process.…”

“…For example, life course and intergenerational solidarity/generational stake together are a good combination, “advanc[ing] knowledge on how intergenerational solidarity and conflict change over time and how life events shape solidarity and conflict in various family relationships” (Blieszner & Voorpostel, , p. 201). New theories can be developed from the integration of other theories (e.g., Shippee et al, ). There is also benefit, as just noted, in identifying the broader theoretical perspectives undergirding middle‐range theories.…”

“…Life course theory is an excellent example for this kind of analysis, as it has different manifestations. It could be compared to cumulative inequality theory (Ferraro & Shippee, ), which its developers describe as “a middle‐range theory that integrates elements from several theories—including age stratification, cumulative disadvantage, life course, and stress‐process—to address how stratification manifests itself over the life course” (Ferraro, Shippee, & Shafer, 2009, as cited in Shippee et al, , p. 158).…”

Health of mothers of young children in Canada: identifying dimensions of inequality based on socio-economic position, partnership status, race, and region

“…While this relationship is often explained through the mechanism of poverty (Van de Velde et al 2014; Gucciardi et al 2004;Curtis and Phipps 2004), other factors, such as time stress (Colton et al 2015) and welfare state generosity (Van de Velde et al 2014; Curtis and Phipps 2004;Burstrom et al 2010) may be equally relevant. Socio-economic position (SEP), measured by education and income levels, has been positively associated with health among mothers of young children in the USA (Link et al 2017;Shippee et al 2015) and among European countries (Brennenstuhl et al 2015). While socio-economic inequalities in birth outcomes and early postpartum health indicators have been identified in Canada (Daoud et al 2015), how these inequalities play out for women's health in the years following giving birth appears to be largely unknown.…”

“…While socio-economic inequalities in birth outcomes and early postpartum health indicators have been identified in Canada (Daoud et al 2015), how these inequalities play out for women's health in the years following giving birth appears to be largely unknown. Also unclear is the relationship between race and health of mothers of young children in Canada, despite evidence from the USA citing strong racial inequalities in health among these women, which are not entirely explained by SEP (Link et al 2017;Shippee et al 2015).…”