Citation
Graf, Gloria Huei-Jong; Zhang, Yalu; Domingue, Benjamin W.; Harris, Kathleen Mullan; Kothari, Meeraj; Kwon, Dayoon; Muennig, Peter; & Belsky, Daniel W. (2022). Social Mobility and Biological Aging among Older Adults in the United States. PNAS Nexus, 1(2), pgac029. PMCID: PMC9123172Abstract
Lower socioeconomic status is associated with faster biological aging, the gradual and progressive decline in system integrity that accumulates with advancing age. Efforts to promote upward social mobility may, therefore, extend healthy lifespan. However, recent studies suggest that upward mobility may also have biological costs related to the stresses of crossing social boundaries. We tested associations of life-course social mobility with biological aging using data from participants in the 2016 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) Venous Blood Study who provided blood-chemistry (n = 9,255) and/or DNA methylation (DNAm) data (n = 3,976). We quantified social mobility from childhood to later-life using data on childhood family characteristics, educational attainment, and wealth accumulation. We quantified biological aging using 3 DNAm "clocks" and 3 blood-chemistry algorithms. We observed substantial social mobility among study participants. Those who achieved upward mobility exhibited less-advanced and slower biological aging. Associations of upward mobility with less-advanced and slower aging were consistent for blood-chemistry and DNAm measures of biological aging, and were similar for men and women and for Black and White Americans (Pearson-r effect-sizesURL
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac029Reference Type
Journal ArticleYear Published
2022Journal Title
PNAS NexusAuthor(s)
Graf, Gloria Huei-JongZhang, Yalu
Domingue, Benjamin W.
Harris, Kathleen Mullan
Kothari, Meeraj
Kwon, Dayoon
Muennig, Peter
Belsky, Daniel W.
Article Type
RegularPMCID
PMC9123172Data Set/Study
Health and Retirement Study (HRS) Venous Blood Study (VBS)Continent/Country
United StatesState
NonspecificRace/Ethnicity
BlackWhite