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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1364868

Can Countries Shape the Association between Cumulative Adversity and Old-Age Health?

Provisionally accepted
Michal Levinsky Michal Levinsky *
  • Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The present study examined the relationships of Lifetime Cumulative Adversity (LCA) and country inequalities, as well as the interactions between them, with the self-rated health (SRH) in old age.Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), the study regressed self-rated health on Lifetime Cumulative Adversity and country-level inequality indices across European countries in two points in time. The analysis also considered adversity-inequality interactions, controlling for confounders. The sample was comprised of 28,789 adults, aged 50 to 80, from 25 European countries and Israel. The results revealed that LCA is a negatively associated with SRH, but democracy and welfare regimes modify the ill effects of LCA on health. These effects are reduced as the LCA level increases. The effects remained significant over two measurement timepoints over three years, showing that life-course trajectories may be shaped by individual accumulated risk exposure to stress, along with inequalities at the society level. The study provides constructive and important guidance for decreasing the harmful effect of lifetime adversity in old age, by the modification of the country's welfare policies.

    Keywords: lifetime cumulative adversity, Europe, self-rated health, SHARE, inequality theory

    Received: 03 Jan 2024; Accepted: 24 Apr 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Levinsky. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Michal Levinsky, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

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