Article Text
Abstract
Background Social and biological circumstances at birth are established predictors of adult socioeconomic position (SEP). This study aims to assess the trends in these associations across two generations and examine the effects of parental early-life characteristics on descendants’ adult SEP.
Methods We studied men and women born in the Uppsala University Hospital 1915–1929 (G1) and their offspring born 1932–1960 (G2). Data were collected in archives and routine registers. Adult SEP was assessed as an aggregate measure combining education and occupation. The exposures were family SEP, mother’s marital status, mother’s parity, mother’s age, standardised birth weight, gestational length and birth multiplicity. Linear regression was used to examine the associations across generations.
Results The difference in adult SEP between low and high family SEP at birth was 15.8 (95% CI: 13.3 to 18.3) percentage points smaller in G2 compared with G1, although a considerable difference was still evident in G2. The associations of adult SEP with small birth weight for gestational age, post-term birth and high parity were stable between the generations: the generational differences in adjusted coefficients were 1.5 (95% CI: −1.1 to 4.1), 0.6 (–1.7 to 2.9) and 1.8 (–0.2 to 3.8) percentage points, respectively. The association between grandparental and grandchildren’s SEPs was largely explained by parental socioeconomic conditions. Father’s preterm birth was independently associated with offspring’s SEP.
Conclusion The stability of the associations between early-life biological disadvantages and adult SEP and the persistent, although attenuated, association between early-life and adult SEPs necessitates increased policy attention to both social and health conditions at birth.
- child health
- social class
- social and life-course epidemiology
- social inequalities
- lifecourse / childhood circumstances
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This web only file has been produced by the BMJ Publishing Group from an electronic file supplied by the author(s) and has not been edited for content.
Supplementary Data
This web only file has been produced by the BMJ Publishing Group from an electronic file supplied by the author(s) and has not been edited for content.
Footnotes
Correction notice This artice has been corrected since it first published. Note that there is a discrepancy between the print version and the online version - this online version should be considered the final version of record.
Contributors All authors contributed to the conception and design of the study. MZH performed statistical analyses and drafted the manuscript. IK directed the implementation of the study. Both JB and IK provided advice on the analytic strategy. All authors critically revised and edited the manuscript and approved the final version.
Funding The study was supported by grants from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 635 316 (ATHLOS project) and from the Swedish Research Council (Projects No 2013–5104 and 2013–5474).
Competing interests None declared.
Patient consent for publication Not required.
Ethics approval The study was approved by the Regional Ethics Committee in Stockholm (Approval number: 03–117, 04–944T, 2009/1115–32, 2009/1830–32 and 2014/2058-31/5).
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
Data availability statement Data are not publicly available. However, de-identified data can be obtained on a reasonable request to Ilona Koupil.