Social Patterning of Health over the Lifecourse
Differences in health between social groups have been observed for over 150 years in Britain, and reducing these social inequalities in health is a key policy goal in all countries of the UK. However, our understanding of what causes these differences is limited. In order to design policies and interventions to reduce inequalities in health and longevity we need to know at what stage of life these inequalities are established (for example, in early childhood, adolescence, or adulthood) and how they change as people age; the relative importance of different threats to health, such as material poverty, social exclusion, health-related behaviours and psychosocial factors; and, how these factors cause biological changes in the body that lead to ill health. In examining these factors, we need to investigate the time in history and the country in which people live, as these may affect the ways in which these threats interact with each other to influence people's health and wellbeing.
This programme aims to investigate the creation and maintenance of poor physical and mental health and wellbeing over the lifecourse and across time in order to identify opportunities for reducing social inequalities in health. It builds on a long history of previous research in this area in the Unit. In our current programme we have four broad objectives:
- To track changes in social circumstances and health over the lifecourse (within cohorts) and across time (between cohorts)
- To investigate specific pathways - social, biological, behavioural, psychosocial and cognitive - between social position and health
- To explore the transmission of socioeconomic and health inequalities between generations
- To examine the role of macro influences on health inequalities by undertaking cross-cohort comparisons between different places (nationally and internationally) and at different points in history
The core of this programme is the analysis of longitudinal data from the Twenty-07 Study, which has been following three cohorts of people - born around 1932, 1952, and 1972 - since 1987, collecting a wide range of information from them about their health and everyday lives. Where possible we are linking information from Twenty-07 with other UK cohort studies. In addition, in some more specialised areas of research, we are employing a wide range of studies, both national and international, to address research questions about the relationship between Cognition and Health and Aetiological Epidemiology, which is the study of the development and causes of major diseases such as heart disease, stroke and cancer in developed and developing countries.
Publications
Dykiert D, Der G, Starr JM, Deary IJ. Sex differences in reaction time mean and intra-individual variability across the life span. Developmental Psychology (in press).
Phillips AC. Cardiovascular reactivity: associations with depression, obesity, and self-reported health. Biological Psychiatry (in press).
Batty GD, Hamer M, Der G. Does somatic illness explain the association between common mental disorder and elevated mortality? findings from extended follow-up of study members in the UK Health and Lifestyle Survey [Epub ahead of print]. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health 2012.
pubmedBrown D, Benzeval M, Gayle V, Macintyre S, O'Reilly D, Leyland AH. Childhood residential mobility and health in late adolescence and adulthood: Findings from the West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study [Epub ahead of print]. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health 2012.
pubmedBrown D, O'Reilly D, Gayle V, Macintyre S, Benzeval M, Leyland AH. Socio-demographic and health characteristics of individuals left behind in deprived and declining areas in Scotland. Health & Place 2012;18:440-444.
pubmedBatty GD, Bhaskar A, Emslie C, Benzeval M, Der G, Lewar H, Hunt K. Association of life course socioeconomic disadvantage with problem and heavy drinking: gender differentials in the west of Scotland [Epub ahead of print]. International Journal of Public Health 2011.
pubmedBatty GD, Shipley MJ, Gunnell D, Smith GD, Ferrie JE, Clarke R, Marmot MG, Kivimäki M. Height loss and future coronary heart disease in London: the Whitehall II study. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health 2011; 65:461-4.
pubmedBenzeval MJ, Green MJ, Leyland AH. Do social inequalities in health widen or converge with age? Longitudinal evidence from three cohorts in the West of Scotland. BMC Public Health 2011;11:947.
pubmed open accessBenzeval MJ. What is the role of income in creating health inequalities? evidence from cross-sectional and longitudinal studies [PhD]. MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit. Glasgow: College of Social Sciences, University of Glasgow, 2011.
Booker C, Harding S, Benzeval M. A systematic review of the effect of retention methods in population-based cohort studies. BMC Public Health 2011; 11:249.
Calvin CM, Batty GD, Lowe GD, Deary, I J. Childhood intelligence and midlife inflammatory and hemostatic biomarkers: The National Child Development Study (1958) Cohort. Health Psychology 2011;30:710-8.
pubmedCalvin CM, Deary IJ, Fenton C, Roberts B, Der G, Leckenby N, Batty DG. Intelligence in youth and all-cause-mortality: systematic review with meta-analysis. International Journal of Epidemiology 2011; 40:626-44.
pubmedCarroll D, Phillips AC, Der G, Hunt K, Benzeval M. Blood pressure reactions to acute mental stress and future blood pressure status: Data from the 12-year follow-up in the West of Scotland study. Psychosomatic Medicine 2011; 73:737-42.
pubmedCarroll D, Phillips AC, Lovallo WR. The behavioural and health corollaries of blunted physiological reactions to acute psychological stress: Revising the reactivity hypothesis. In: Wright RA, Gendolla GHE, eds. Motivation Perspectives on Cardiovascular Response. Washington, D.C.: APA Press, 2011.
Czernichow S, Kengne AP, Huxley RR, Batty GD, de Galan B, Grobbee D, Pillai A, Zoungas S, Marre M, Woodward M, Neal B, Chalmers J. Comparison of waist-to-hip ratio and other obesity indices as predictors of cardiovascular disease risk in people with type-2 diabetes: a prospective cohort study from ADVANCE. European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention & Rehabilitation 2011; 18:312-9.
pubmedCzernichow S, Kengne AP, Stamatakis E, Hamer M, Batty GD. Body mass index, waist circumference and waist-hip ratio: which is the better discriminator of cardiovascular disease mortality risk? Evidence from an individual-participant meta-analysis of 82864 participants from nine cohort studies. Obesity Reviews 2011; 12:680-7.
pubmedFuller N, Green MJ, Benzeval M. The West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study: the use of bioimpedance analysis for the measurement of body composition in Wave 5 Glasgow: MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit Working Paper no. 28, 2011.
Ginty AT, Phillips AC, Der G, Deary IJ, Carroll D. Heart rate reactivity is associated with future cognitive ability and cognitive change in a large community sample. International Journal of Psychophysiology 2011;82:167-74.
pubmedGray CM, Hunt K, Lorimer K, Anderson AS, Benzeval M, Wyke S. Words matter: a qualitative investigation of which weight status terms are acceptable and motivate weight loss when used by health professionals? BMC Public Health 2011; 11:513
open accessGray L, Lee I-M, Sesso HD, Batty GD. Association of body mass index in early adulthood and middle-age with future site-specific cancer mortality: the Harvard Alumni Health Study [Epub ahead of print]. Annals of Oncology 2011.
pubmed open accessGray L, Lee I-M, Sesso HD, Batty GD. Blood pressure in early adulthood, hypertension in middle-age, and future cardiovascular disease mortality: the Harvard Alumni Health Study. Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2011; 58:2396-403.
pubmedGray L, Lee I-M, Sesso HD, Batty GD. Body weight in early and mid-adulthood in relation to subsequent coronary heart disease mortality: 80 years follow-up in the Harvard Alumni Study (Research Letter). Archives of Internal Medicine 2011; 171:1768-70.
pubmedGreen M, Benzeval M. Aging, social class and common mental disorders: Longitudinal evidence from three cohorts in the West of Scotland. Psychological Medicine 2011; 41:565-74.
pubmed open accessHamer M, Batty GD, Marmot MG, Singh-Manoux A, Kivimaki M. Anti-depressant medication use and C-reactive protein: results from two population-based studies. Brain Behavior and Immunity 2011; 25:168-73.
pubmedHamer M, Batty GD, Seldenrijk A, Kivimäki M. Antidepressant medication use and future risk of cardiovascular disease: the Scottish Health Survey. European Heart Journal 2011; 32:437-44.
pubmed open accessHamer M, Ford T, Stamatakis E, Dockray S, Batty GD. Objectively measured secondhand smoke exposure and mental health in children: evidence from the Scottish Health Survey. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine 2011; 165:326-31.
pubmedKatikireddi SV, Higgins M, Bond L, Bonell C, Macintyre S. How evidence based is English public health policy? British Medical Journal 2011; 343:d7310.
pubmedKivimäki M, Jokela M, Hamer M, Geddes JR, Ebmeier K, Kumari M, Singh-Manoux A, Hingorani A, Batty GD. Examining overweight and obesity as risk factors for common mental disorders using fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) genotype-instrumented analysis: The Whitehall II Study, 1985-2004. American Journal of Epidemiology 2011; 173:421-9.
pubmedLam EK, Batty GD, Huxley RR, Martiniuk AL, Barzi F, Lam TH, Lawes CM, Giles GG, Welborn T, Ueshima H, Tamakoshi A, Woo J, Kim HC, Fang X, Czernichow S, Woodward M. Associations of diabetes mellitus with site-specific cancer mortality in the Asia-Pacific region. Annals of Oncology 2011; 22:730-8.
pubmedLorimer K, Gray CM, Hunt K, Wyke S, Anderson A, Benzeval M. Response to written feedback of clinical data within a longitudinal study: a qualitative study exploring the ethical implications. BMC Medical Research Methodology 2011; 11:10.
pubmed open accessMaxwell F, McGlynn LM, Muir HC, Talwar D, Benzeval M, Robertson T, Roxburgh CS, McMillan DC, Horgan PG, Shiels PG. Telomere attrition and decreased Fetuin A levels indicate accelerated biological ageing and are implicated in the pathogenesis of Colorectal Cancer. Clinical Cancer Research 2011; 17:5573-81.
pubmedMcCartney G, Collins C, Walsh D, Batty GD. Accounting for Scotland's excess mortality: towards a synthesis: Glasgow Centre for Population Health, 2011.
open accessMcCartney G, Mahmood L, Leyland AH, Batty GD, Hunt KM. Contribution of smoking- and alcohol-related deaths to the gender gap in mortality: evidence from 30 European countries. Tobacco Control 2011; 20:166-8.
pubmed open accessMonasta L, Batty GD, Macaluso A, Ronfani L, Lutje V, Bavcar A, van Lenthe FJ, Brug J, Cattaneo A. Interventions for the prevention of overweight and obesity in preschool children: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Obesity Reviews 2011; 12:e107-8.
pubmedPackard C, Bezylak V, McLean JS, Batty GD, Ford I, Burns H, Cavanagh J, Deans KA, Henderson M, McGinty A, Millar K, Sattar N, Shiels PG, Velupillai YN, Tannahill C. Early life socioeconomic adversity is associated in adult life with chronic inflammation, carotid atherosclerosis, poorer lung function and decreased cognitive performance: a cross-sectional, population-based study. BMC Public Health 2011; 11:42.
open accessPhillips AC, Batty GD, Gale CR, Lord JM, Arlt W, Carroll D. Major depressive disorder, generalised anxiety disorder, and their comorbidity: Associations with cortisol in the Vietnam Experience Study. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2011; 36:682-90.
pubmedPhillips AC, Batty GD, van Zanten JJ, Mortensen LH, Deary IJ, Calvin CM, Carroll D. Cognitive ability in early adulthood is associated with systemic inflammation in middle age: the Vietnam experience study. Brain, Behavior and Immunity 2011; 25:298-301.
pubmedPhillips AC, Carroll D, Gale CR, Drayson M, Batty GD. Lymphocyte cell counts in middle age are positively associated with subsequent all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. Quarterly Journal of Medicine 2011; 104:319-24.
pubmedPhillips AC, Der G, Shipton D, Benzeval M. Prospective associations between cardiovascular reactions to acute psychological stress and change in physical disability in a large community sample. International Journal of Psychophysiology 2011;81:332-7.
pubmedPhillips AC. Correlates of blunted physiological reactions to acute psychological stress: low reactivity is not necessarily good for you. Japanese Psychological Research 2011; 53:177-92.
Phillips C, Hunt K, Der G, Carroll D. Blunted cardiac reactions to acute psychological stress predict symptoms of depression five years later: evidence from a large community study. Psychophysiology 2011; 48:142-8.
pubmedSeaman S, Benzeval M. The West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study: inverse probability weights for Wave 5. Glasgow: MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit Working Paper no 27, 2011.
Shiels PG, McGlynn LM, MacIntyre A, Johnson PCD, Batty GD, Burns H, Cavanagh J, Deans KA, Ford I, McConnachie A, McGinty A, McLean JS, Millar K, Sattar N, Tannahill C, Velupillai YN, Packard CJ. Accelerated Telomere attrition is associated with relative household income, Diet and inflammation in the pSoBid cohort. PLoS ONE 2011; 6:e22521.
pubmed open accessSweeting H, Jackson C, Haw S. Changes in the socio-demographic patterning of late adolescent health risk behaviours during the 1990s: analysis of two West of Scotland cohort studies. BMC Public Health 2011; 11:829.
pubmed open accessWills AK, Lawlor DA, Matthews F, Aihie Sayer A, Bakra E, Ben Shlomo Y, Benzeval M, Brunner E, Cooper R, Kivimäki M, Kuh D, Muniz-Terrera G, Hardy R. Lifecourse trajectories of systolic blood pressure using longitudinal data from UK cohorts. PLoS Medicine 2011; 8:e1000440.
open accessBatty DG, Kivimäki M, Deary IJ. Intelligence, education and mortality (editorial). British Medical Journal 2010; 340:c563
open accessBatty GD, Barzi F, Woodward M, Jamrozik K, Woo J, Kim HC, Ueshima H, Huxley RR, for the Asia Pacific Cohort Studies Collaboration. Adult height and cancer mortality in Asia: the Asia Pacific Cohort Studies Collaboration. Annals of Oncology 2010; 21:646-54.
pubmed
Batty GD, Der G, Benzeval M, Deary IJ. Does IQ predict cardiovascular disease mortality as strongly as other risk factors? Comparison of effect estimates using the Twenty-07 prospective cohort study . European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation 2010; 17:24-7.
Batty GD, Li Q, Czernichow S, Neal B, Zoungas S, Huxley R, Patel A, De Galan BE, Woodward M, Hamet P, Harrap SB, Poulter N, Chambers J, Advance Collaborative Group. Erectile dysfunction and later cardiovascular disease in men with type 2 diabetes: prospective cohort study based on the ADVANCE (Action in Diabetes and Vascular Disease: Preterax and Diamicron Modified-Release Controlled Evaluation) trial. Journal of the American College of Cardiologists 2010; 56:1908-13.
pubmedBatty GD, Shipley MJ, Kivimäki M, Marmot MG, Smith GD. Walking pace, leisure time physical activity, and resting heart rate in relation to disease-specific mortality in London: 40 years follow-up of the original Whitehall study. An update of our work with Professor Jerry N. Morris (1910-2009). Annals of Epidemiology 2010; 20:661-9.
pubmedCzernichow S, Ninomiya T, Huxley R, Kengne AP, Batty GD, Grobbee DE, Woodward M, Neal B, Chalmers J. Impact of blood pressure lowering on cardiovascular outcomes in normal weight, overweight, and obese individuals: the Perindopril Protection Against Recurrent Stroke Study trial. Hypertension 2010; 55:1193-8.
pubmed open accessDykiert D, Hall D, van Gemeren N, Benson R, Der G, Starr JM, Deary IJ. The effects of high altitude on choice reaction time mean and intra-individual variability: Results of the Edinburgh Altitude Research Expedition of 2008. Neuropsychology 2010; 24:391-401.
pubmedGale CR, Batty GD, Tynelius P, Deary IJ, Rasmussen F. Intelligence in early adulthood and subsequent hospitalisation for mental disorders. Epidemiology 2010; 21:70-7.
Gale CR, Kivimäki M, Lawlor DA, Carroll D, Phillips AC, Batty DG. Fasting glucose, diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, and depression: the Vietnam experience study. Biological Psychiatry 2010; 67:189-92.
Ginty AR, Phillips AC, Der G, Deary IJ, Carroll D. Cognitive ability and simple reaction time predict cardiac reactivity in the West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study. Psychophysiology 2011; 48:1022-7.
pubmedGray L, Batty GD, Craig P, Stewart C, Whyte B, Findlayson B, Leyland AH. Cohort Profile: The Scottish Health Surveys Cohort: linkage of study participants to routinely collected records for mortality, hospital discharge, cancer and offspring birth characteristics in three nationwide studies. International Journal of Epidemiology 2010; 39:345-50.
Gray L, Hart CL, Davey Smith G, Batty GD. What is the predictive value of established risk factors for total and cardiovascular disease mortality when measured before middle-age? pooled analyses of two prospective cohort studies from Scotland. European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation 2010; 17:106-12.
Hart CL, Batty GD, Morrison DS, Mitchell RJ, Smith GD. Obesity, overweight and liver disease in the Midspan prospective cohort studies. International Journal of Obesity 2010; 34:1051-9.
Hart CL, Morrison DS, Batty GD, Mitchell RJ, Davey Smith G. Effect of body mass index and alcohol consumption on liver disease: analysis of data from two prospective cohort studies. British Medical Journal 2010; 340:c1240.
Johnson W, Kyvik KO, Batty GD, Mortensen EL, Skytthe A, Deary IJ. Education reduces the effects of genetic susceptibility to poor physical health. International Journal of Epidemiology 2010; 39:406-14.
Kivimäki M, Tabak AG, Batty GD, Ferrie JE, Nabi H, Marmot MG, Witte DR, Singh-Manoux A, Shipley MJ. Incremental predictive value of adding past blood pressure measurements to the Framingham Hypertension Risk Equation. The Whitehall II Study. Hypertension 2010; 55:1058-62.
Phillips AC, Carroll D, Thomas GN, Gale CR, Deary IJ, Batty GD. The influence of multiple indices of socioeconomic disadvantage across the adult life course on the metabolic syndrome: the Vietnam Experience Study. Metabolism 2010; 59:1164-71.
Phillips AC, Der G, Carroll D. Self-reported health, self-reported fitness, and all-cause mortality: Prospective cohort study. British Journal of Health Psychology 2010; 15:337-46.
pubmedSweeting H, West P, Young R, Der G. Can we explain increases in young people's psychological distress over time? Social Science & Medicine 2010; 71:1819-30.
pubmed open accessThomas GN, Phillips AC, Carroll D, Gale CR, Batty GD. The metabolic syndrome adds utility to the prediction of mortality over its components: The Vietnam Experience Study. Atherosclerosis 2010; 210:256-61.
Virtanen M, Pentti J, Vahtera J, Oksanen T, Tuisku K, Salo P, Terho K, Elovainio M, Batty GD, Kivimäki M. Patient overcrowding on hospital wards as a predictor of future specific mental disorders among staff: prospective cohort study. Journal of Clinical Psychology 2010; 71:1308-12.
pubmedvon Stumm S, Macintyre S, Batty DG, Clark H, Deary IJ. Intelligence, social class of origin, childhood behavior disturbance and education as predictors of status attainment in midlife in men: The Aberdeen Children of the 1950s study. Intelligence 2010; 38:202-11.
open accessWatts L. I am just glad I can you know, and while I can I won't just sit in the house, I'll get out and about and do something" older adults' understandings and experiences of physical activity (MSc). Graduate School: University of Glasgow, 2010.
Whitley E, Batty DG, Gale CR, Deary IR, Tynelius P, Rasmussen F. Intelligence in early adulthood and subsequent risk of unintentional injury over two decades: cohort study of 1,109,475 Swedish men. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health 2010; 64:419-25.
Whitley E, Batty GD, Gale CR, Deary IJ, Tynelius P, Rasmussen P. Intelligence in early adulthood and subsequent risk of assault: cohort study of 1,120,998 Swedish men. Psychosomatic Medicine 2010; 72:390-6.
Carroll D, Phillips AC, Gale CR, Batty DG. Generalized anxiety and major depressive disorders, their comorbidity and hypertension in middle-aged men [Epub ahead of print]. Psychosomatic Medicine 2009.
Carroll D, Phillips AC, Thomas GN, Gale CR, Deary IJ, Batty GD. Generalised anxiety disorder, is associated with metabolic syndrome in the Vietnam Experience Study. Biological Psychiatry 2009; 66:91-3.
Kivimäki M, Gimeno D, Ferrie JE, Batty GD, Oksanen T, Jokela M, Virtanen M, Salo P, Akbaraly TN, Elovainio M, Pentti J, Vahtera J. Socioeconomic position, psychosocial work environment and cerebrovascular disease among women: The Finnish public sector study. International Journal of Epidemiology 2009; 38:1265-71.
Benzeval M, Green M, Ferrell C, Macdonald L, Wilson R, Der G, Ellaway A, Hunt K, Sweeting H, West P, Macintyre S. West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study: Health in the Community: Wave 5 fieldwork Protocol. Glasgow: MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit Working Paper no. 20, 2007.
Benzeval M, Wilson R. West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study: Health in the Community: scientific justification for collection of biomarkers in Wave 5. Glasgow: MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit Working Paper no. 21, 2007.
Tunstall H, Benzeval M, Der G. Weights for the West of Scotland Twenty-07 Study: Health in the Community – notes for users. Glasgow: MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, Working Paper no. 22, 2006.
Programme Staff
External Collaborators
Glossary
- cohort age group
- Health behaviours Any actions undertaken by an individual which have the potential to influence health (e.g. diet, smoking, physical activity, consulting with health care professionals)
- Longitudinal Studies A type of study which involves studying a group of people at regular intervals over a long period of times
- Psychosocial Term used to describe the relationship between the personal, internal environment, and the wider social world. (E.g., from the Oxford English Dictionary: 'the influence of social factors on an individual's mind or behaviour, and to the interrelation of behavioural and social factors').
- Social exclusion The outcome of multiple deprivations that prevent individuals or groups from participating fully in the economic, social, and political life of the society in which they live.
- social position a generic label for the various aspects of an individual's personal circumstances (e.g. occupation, education)
- socioeconomic involving both economic and social factors
