Tracking Health Inequalities from High School to Midlife
Open accessAbstract
Educational gradients in health status, morbidity, and mortality are well established, but which aspects of schooling produce those gradients is only partially understood. We draw on newly available data from the midlife follow-up of the High School and Beyond sophomore cohort to analyze the relationship between students' level of coursework in high school and their long-term health outcomes. We additionally evaluate the mediating roles of skill development, postsecondary attendance and degree attainment, and occupational characteristics. We find that students who took a medium- to high-level course of study in high school have better self-reported health and physical functioning in midlife, even net of family background, adolescent health, baseline skills, and school characteristics. The association partially operates through pathways into postsecondary education. Our findings have implications for both educational policy and research on the educational gradient in health.
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GPA is a practically relevant outcome because it is a strong predictor of adult educational attainment, health and well-being, even when controlling for high school test scores.
“It is also a practically relevant outcome because, as noted, GPA is a strong predictor of adult educational attainment, health and well-being, even when controlling for high school test scores38.”
From A national experiment reveals where a growth mindset improves achievement (2019) · cites this paper as [38]
The Results (Skill Development; page unavailable) report that an increase in high-school GPA is associated with significantly better self-reported health in midlife; the Methods say the analysis also includes achievement test scores. The paper does not establish that GPA is a strong predictor of adult educational attainment or of well-being broadly. Its reported GPA finding concerns a change in GPA and self-reported health, not all the outcomes in the citing sentence. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredEducational attainment is one of the leading predictors of longevity and health.
“educational attainment is one of the leading predictors of longevity and health38,42”
From A national experiment reveals where a growth mindset improves achievement (2019) · cites this paper as [38]
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A national experiment reveals where a growth mindset improves achievement
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- Authors
- Carroll, J. M., Muller, C., Grodsky, E., & Warren, J. R.
- Affiliations
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- University of Minnesota (US)
- Corresponding author
- Carroll, Jamie M
- Venue
- Social Forces
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2017-12-01
- Volume
- 96
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 591-628
- ISSN
- 0037-7732 (ISSN-L)
- 1534-7605
- PMC
- PMC5786152
- OpenAlex
- W2783957142
- Cited by
- 35
- References
- 61
- Citations by year
- 2025: 7 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 2.13
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- Social Forces (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Project Muse (Johns Hopkins University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging (P30AG017266)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R24HD042849, P2CHD047873, P2CHD042849, P2CHD041023, T32HD007081)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies
- Social Sciences › Education › School Choice and Performance
- Keywords
- health disparities, high school coursework, course program, midlife health, physical function, self-reported health, postsecondary education, degree attainment, job characteristics, skill development, mediation pathways, education policy
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