Grandparents Matter – Multigenerational transmission of health and health behaviors

• Main Author: Sari, Emre
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: UiT The Arctic University of Norway 2023
• Subjects: VDP::Social science: 200::Economics: 210::Economics: 212; VDP::Samfunnsvitenskap: 200::Økonomi: 210::Samfunnsøkonomi: 212; VDP::Medical disciplines: 700::Health sciences: 800::Community medicine; Social medicine: 801; VDP::Medisinske Fag: 700::Helsefag: 800::Samfunnsmedisin; sosialmedisin: 801; VDP::Social science: 200::Demography: 300; VDP::Samfunnsvitenskap: 200::Demografi: 300; DOKTOR-002; Tromsø
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10037/31578

Health is an essential component of human capital, and health inequalities are a major issue. While substantial research on the intergenerational transmission of health and health behaviors has been conducted, the questions whether and how grandparents’ health affects grandchildren remain underinvestigated. This thesis aims to better understand health inequality mechanisms by analyzing multigenerational health and risky health behavior transmission. I employ methods to further elucidate multigenerational effects using the historical multi-generational Rendalen database, covering the 18th and 19th centuries, and the population-based 1974–2016 Tromsø Study. The first paper discusses the effect of grandmothers’ economic hardships on grandchildren's health. Economic hardships during pregnancy demonstrate transgenerational health effects that continue through generations by social class. The second paper investigates whether smoking in earlier generations is causally related to that in subsequent generations and differential maternal versus paternal grandparent effects. Maternal grandparents’ smoking behavior directly reduce the probability of grandchildren smoking, whereas intergenerational transmission increases that probability. The third paper investigates the impact of intergenerational transmission of child neglect by grandparents on the long-term mental health of their grandchildren. The results implicate that the likelihood of depression in grandchildren is specifically linked to neglectful parenting by maternal grandparents, taking into account whether their own parents exhibited neglectful behaviors. In conclusion, further investigation of the effects of cultural inheritance from grandparents on future generations’ health is important. The results suggest that policymakers should reevaluate and expand health policies to include grandparents. Helse er en essensiell komponent av menneskelig kapital, og helseulikheter er et betydelig problem. Mens det er gjort omfattende forskning på intergenerasjonell ...