Handbook of aging and the social sciences

Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences, Eighth Edition, presents the extraordinary growth of research on aging individuals, populations, and the dynamic culmination of the life course, providing a comprehensive synthesis and review of the latest research findings in the social sciences of aging. As the complexities of population dynamics, cohort succession, and policy changes modify the world and its inhabitants in ways that must be vigilantly monitored so that aging research remains relevant and accurate, this completely revised edition not only includes the foundational, classic them

Front Cover; Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences; Copyright Page; Dedications; Contents; Foreword; Preface; About the Editors; List of Contributors; I. Theory and Methods; 1 Aging and the Social Sciences: Progress and Prospects; Theoretical and Conceptual Developments; Cumulative Advantage/Disadvantage Theory; Cumulative Inequality Theory; Methods and Data; Data Developments; Statistical Sophistication; Emerging Themes in Aging Research; Increased Attention to Cohort Analysis; The Effects of Social and Economic Disruptions on Aging; The Great Recession

Hurricane Katrina and Other DisastersGradual, Incremental Cultural Change; Income Inequality and Health; What Aging Research Contributes to the Social Sciences: The Big Picture; References; 2 Trajectory Models for Aging Research; Growth Modeling in a Nutshell; Example 2.1; Latent Class Modeling in a Nutshell; Example 2.2; Example 2.3; Example 2.4; Latent Class Growth Analysis; Example 2.5; Growth Mixture Modeling; Example 2.6; Important Issues in the Implementation of Trajectory Methods; Data Structure and Method; Measurement of Time; Importance of Assumptions

Extraction of Classes and Inclusion of CovariatesConclusion; References; II. Social Structures and Processes; 3 Biodemography: Adding Biological Insight into Social, Economic, and Psychological Models of Population and Individual Hea ...; Introduction; Expansion of the Demographic Approach: The Process of Health Change; The Expanded Biodemographic Model of Health; Measuring Biomarkers in Population Studies; Use of Biomarkers in Assessing Population Health and Health Care Use and Its Effectiveness; Summary Indices of Biological Risk; Genetic Markers as a New Frontier; Summary

Appendix: Information on Biomarkers often Used in Social Science ResearchReferences; 4 Late-Life Disability Trends and Trajectories; Introduction; The Conceptualization of Disability; Measuring Disability; Evidence on Trends in Disability Prevalence; Overall Trends; Between-Group Differences, Compositional Change, and "True" Change; Potential Explanations for "True" Change; Individual-Level Disability Trajectories; Time to Death as an Additional "Time" Variable; Accounting for Sample Losses due to Death; Conclusion; References; 5 Early Life Origins of Adult Health and Aging; Introduction

Historical OverviewEarly Origins of Adult Disease: From FOAD Through DOHaD to a Life Course Perspective; The Intrauterine Environment; The Postnatal Environment; Physical Growth and Development; Early Adverse Environments and the Stress Response; A Genetic and Evolutionary Perspective; Early Life Origins of Functional Aging in a Life Course Perspective; An Integrated Life Course Model of Aging; Structural Reserve and Compensatory Mechanisms; Endocrine System; Life Course Physical and Psychological Influences on the HPA Axis; Vascular Function; Lifetime Influences on Vascular Function