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Background: A large literature demonstrates associations between socioeconomic status (SES) and health, including physiological health and well-being. Moreover, gender differences are often observed among measures of both SES and health. However, relationships between SES and health are sometimes questioned given the lack of true experiments, and the potential biological and SES mechanisms explaining gender differences in health are rarely examined simultaneously.Purpose: To use a national sample of twins to investigate lifetime socioeconomic adversity and a measure of physiological dysregulation separately by sex.Methods: Using the twin sample in the second wave of the Midlife in the United States survey (MIDUS II), biometric regression analysis was conducted to determine whether the established SES-physiological health association is observed among twins both before and after adjusting for potential familial-level confounds (additive genetic and shared environmental influences that may underly the SES-health link), and whether this association differs among men and women.Results: Although individuals with less socioeconomic adversity over the lifespan exhibited less physiological dysregulation among this sample of twins, this association only persisted among male twins after adjusting for familial influences.Conclusions: Findings from the present study suggest that, particularly for men, links between socioeconomic adversity and health are not spurious or better explained by additive genetic or early shared environmental influences. Furthermore, gender-specific role demands may create differential associations between SES and health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increased longevity means that older adults have more opportunities to have age-integrated social networks, which include both same-aged peers and intergenerational social ties. Compared to those with peer-only, or intergenerational-only social networks, those with age-integrated networks may experience greater psychosocial benefits due to the age-diverse nature of their social networks. Data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study was used to examine age integration status associations with well-being and social engagement in a nationally representative sample of Medicare beneficiaries in the United States. We hypothesized that age-integrated older adults have greater well-being and social engagement than older adults with peer-only or intergenerational-only networks. Weighted ordinary least squares regression analyses were conducted to test associations of well-being and social engagement with age integration status, controlling for sociodemographic and health covariates. Older adults with age-integrated social networks did not differ in well-being from those with peer-only or intergenerational-only networks, although they had greater social engagement than those with intergenerational-only networks.