The “long arm of childhood” on mortality in older adulthood in the United States and Brazil: examining the role of educational attainment and differences by gender, a paper co-authored by Social Work professor Dr. Flávia Andrade, University of Texas professor Mateo Farina, and Eric Klopack (postdoctoral researcher, University of Southern California at time of writing) has been accepted at Oxford University Press.

Using data from Brazil and the United States, the team analyzed how childhood socioeconomic conditions and childhood health influence mortality later in life.

Their findings concluded how early disadvantages matter in both countries, but the pathways differ. In Brazil, education serves as a pathway linking childhood socioeconomic disadvantage to mortality for women but not men. In the United States, the opposite pattern emerges—education is a pathway for men but not women. Childhood health also predicts mortality in the United States but not in Brazil.