Research Brief Series

2026

Does a Lifetime of Employment Instability and Poor-Quality Jobs Accelerate Biological Aging? 

Mateo P. Farina, Rachel Donnelly, and Jessica D. Faul, August 2026

Work conditions can shape how people age. Researchers have long known that stable employment is linked to better health, while insecure and low-quality work can harm health. This study examined whether work histories and quality of work in midlife were linked to faster epigenetic aging, a biological measure that shows whether the body appears older or younger than a person’s chronological age. 

This research brief is based on a study by Mateo P. Farina, Rachel Donnelly, and Jessica D. Faul. The study used 1992–2016 data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and 2016 blood biomarker data from the HRS Venous Blood Study. The analysis of work histories included 3,000 adults, and the analysis of work quality included 2,586 adults who worked for pay in at least one study wave. 

The findings showed that adults with a history of not working for pay in midlife experienced faster biological aging later in life. Workers who experienced job insecurity, insufficient work hours, and low wages also showed faster biological aging. Multiple poor work conditions had a cumulative effect. Low-quality work appeared to take a toll on the body that went beyond depression, smoking, drinking, or being overweight.  

The takeaway is that poor work conditions may harm health not only by shaping individual behaviors, but also by exposing people to long-term financial strain, insecurity, and lack of control. Policies improving wages, work hours, job security, and job stability will support healthier aging. 

Evidence Shows Isolation and Feelings of Loneliness Are Unequally Distributed Among Groups of Older Adults 

Haoming Song and Yuanchang Zhao, July 2026

Social isolation and loneliness threaten health and well-being in later life, but older adults do not face these risks equally. This research brief is based on a study by Haoming Song and Yuanchang Zhao that expands knowledge on how gender identity and sexual identity intersect to shape social isolation and loneliness among U.S. adults aged 50 or older. 

The researchers used 2024 Household Pulse Survey data from 216,930 older adults. They examined objective isolation, such as limited social contact, and subjective isolation, measured as feeling lonely. They grouped older adults into four categories: not isolated or lonely, feeling lonely but not isolated, isolated but not feeling lonely, and both isolated and lonely. 

The study found cisgender straight adults were the most likely to be socially connected and not lonely. Transgender/nonbinary LGB+ adults were the least likely to be connected and the most likely to be both isolated and lonely. Single-minority groups generally fell between these two groups. The study showed that many older adults were “lonely in a crowd,” meaning they had social ties but still felt lonely. 

These findings suggest that policies and programs should address both social contact and belonging. Aging services should include LGBTQ+ affirming supports and pay special attention to older adults with intersecting marginalized identities. 

Feeling Older May Signal Loneliness and Emotional Strain

Namkee G. Choi and C. Nathan Marti, June 2026

Older adults often feel younger than their actual age, and that sense of youthfulness can reflect broader well-being. This research brief is based on a study by Namkee G. Choi and C. Nathan Marti that examined whether loneliness, depression, and anxiety were tied to how old adults felt compared with their actual chronological age.  

The study used 2023 and 2024 data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study, a nationally representative study of U.S. Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 and older. The authors examined 7,316 adults in 2023 and 6,198 adults in 2024 who answered questions about loneliness and subjective age.

Most older adults felt younger than their actual age. The study found loneliness was linked to feeling less young or older. Loneliness was tied to feeling older in part because lonely adults also reported more symptoms of depression and anxiety. Older adults whose loneliness increased from 2023 to 2024 also tended to feel older, or less young, one year later. Physical health measures did not explain these short-term changes, suggesting that self-perceived age may reflect psychosocial well-being more than physical health.

Reducing loneliness and improving mental health will likely help older adults maintain vitality and a more positive experience of aging and improve their well-being.

Risks for Cognitive Decline Vary across LGBTQ+ Older Adults

Ellesse-Roselee Akre, Katherine E. M. Miller, Harry Barbee, Regan Harnois, Ebony Toussaint, Tara McKay, May 2026

Research shows that older adults who identify as gender or sexual minorities face higher risk for memory problems and dementia, but many studies treat these populations as one group. Important differences by gender and sexual orientation can be hidden from view. This research brief is based on a study by Ellesse-Roselee Akre, Katherine E. M. Miller, Harry Barbee, Regan Harnois, Ebony Toussaint, and Tara McKay that expands knowledge on how cognitive health varies across genders and by sexual orientation among older adults who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or another gender or sexual minority in the Southern U.S.

The study used data from the LGBTQ+ Social Networks, Aging, and Policy Study, which included 1,255 LGBTQ+ adults ages 50 to 76 in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Researchers used descriptive statistics and logistic regression to examine self-reported cognitive decline by gender and sexual orientation.

Neighborhood Change Shapes Alzheimer’s Risk Over Time

Alexandra L. Clark, Abbey M. Hamlin, May 2026

Why do some communities face higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease? This research helps answer that question by examining how neighborhood conditions over time affect brain health.

This research brief is based on a study by Alexandra L. Clark and Abbey M. Hamlin that explores how long-term exposure to neighborhood racial segregation and changes in segregation shape biological risk for Alzheimer’s disease.

The study included 119 adults age 50 and older in the Austin, Texas area. Researchers linked participants’ addresses to U.S. Census data from 2000, 2010, and 2020 and measured segregation using the dissimilarity index. Blood samples were used to assess biomarkers tied to brain cell damage (NfL), inflammation (GFAP), and amyloid buildup.

Increasing segregation over time—not current conditions—was linked to worse brain health. Ten-year increases in segregation were associated with higher levels of GFAP, while 20-year increases were associated with higher levels of NfL. In contrast, where people lived later in life showed no association with these biomarkers.

These findings suggest that policies focused on reducing segregation and preventing worsening neighborhood conditions may help lower dementia risk. Investments in housing, economic opportunity, and community stability may play a critical role in protecting brain health over time.

Diet Shown to Improve Liver and Brain Health

Andreana P. Haley, Jack Knight-Scott, Marie Caillaud, Isabelle Gallagher, Jessica Park, Yanrong Li, Tianyu Wang, Hirofumi Tanaka, Jeffrey D. Browning, May 2026

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is a growing public health concern tied to obesity and chronic conditions, but its effects on brain health are less understood. This research brief is based on a study by Andreana P. Haley and colleagues that examined how liver fat is linked to brain chemistry and whether diet can improve both.

The study used a two-week randomized diet intervention among 44 adults with high metabolic risk in Texas. Researchers measured liver fat and brain chemicals using magnetic resonance spectroscopy before and after participants followed either a low-carbohydrate or low-calorie diet.

Nearly all participants with MASLD (97%) showed reduced liver fat, while most also showed decreases in glutamate and myo-inositol—brain chemicals linked to inflammation and cellular stress. Importantly, reductions in liver fat were associated with improvements in brain chemistry, suggesting a direct connection between liver and brain health.

These results suggest that even short-term dietary changes may improve both liver and brain health. Policymakers and health systems should consider expanding access to nutrition interventions, metabolic screening, and preventive care to address these risks early and cost-effectively.

Raising Children with a Serious Condition Can Sometimes Take a Toll on a Mother’s Health

Xuewen Yan and Robert Crosnoe, January 2026

Raising children with a serious condition is associated with poorer wellbeing among parents, and these associations accumulate over time. This research brief is based on a study by Xuewen Yan, postdoctoral scholar at the Population Research Center, and Robert Crosnoe, faculty affiliate in the Center for Aging and Population Sciences, that expands knowledge on the long-term dynamics of parenting a child with a serious condition. Their study examined how the intensity of parenting shaped the physical health among mothers in midlife. The study assessed three dimensions of intensity related to parenting: the duration of providing care, cumulative transitions into this role, and the number of children in the family with a serious condition.

Fixed-effects modeling of panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (n=8,305) showed all three dimensions of intensity predicted poorer physical health among mothers over time. These associations were generally weaker when mothers had higher incomes or worked for pay.

Policies to support families should prioritize services that can be mobilized quickly during especially vulnerable periods and provide enhanced and sustained services to families with multiple children with serious health conditions. Policies that support mothers’ career and financial stability will likely deliver long-term health benefits to these mothers.

Does Use of Digital Technologies Help or Harm Cognition among Older Adults?

Jared F. Benge and Michael K. Scullin, January 2026

Does use of technology help or harm cognition among older adults? The digital dementia hypothesis predicts that a lifetime of using technology worsens cognitive abilities. Another hypothesis predicts that everyday use leads to technological reserve, meaning digital technologies promote behaviors that preserve cognition. This research brief, from CAPS faculty scholar, Jared Benge, and Michael Scullin, reports on their recent meta-analysis that tests these hypotheses. The meta-analysis included studies focused on digital technology use among adults 50 and older that assessed outcomes with a cognitive test or diagnosis for mild cognitive impairment or dementia. The authors identified 136 high-quality papers that met the inclusion criteria, of which 57 papers with 411,430 participants were compatible with their statistical analysis using odds and hazard ratios. Use of digital technology was linked to reduced risk of cognitive impairment and reduced rates of cognitive decline over time. The associations remained significant when accounting for demographic, socioeconomic, and health factors and characteristics related to the brain’s ability to adapt and use strategies to remember events and navigate tasks. Policies and programs should ensure safe, inclusive, and user-friendly digital tools to maximize benefits. Integrating the use of technology into initiatives on healthy aging may foster cognitive resilience and independence among older adults.

2025

The Growing Cost of Less Education: Biological Aging Among Older Americans

Mateo P. Farina, Jung Ki Kim, and Eileen M. Crimmins, August 2025

Education has long been linked to better health, with more educated individuals living longer and experiencing better overall well-being due to factors like higher income, healthier environments, and better access to healthcare. In contrast, people with less education often face more stress, unhealthy behaviors, and physically demanding work, which can accelerate biological aging—the body’s internal wear and tear beyond chronological age. As the economic value of a high school diploma has declined, health and mortality outcomes have worsened for those without a college degree, raising concerns about growing health disparities. This research brief, from CAPS faculty scholar Mateo Farina and colleagues, reports on a recent study that explored how biological aging has changed over time for adults aged 50–79 across education levels. They found that biological aging slowed everyone across education levels over time, but inequalities increased because the highest-educated improved the largest improvements. To close this gap, the authors advocate for policies to expand access to healthy environments, preventive care, and aging-related resources for less educated populations while also addressing modifiable risk factors for all people, including obesity, as well as integrating measures of biological aging into public health surveillance.

 

Advancing a New Research and Policy Agenda for Young Adult Caregivers of Older Family Members

Karen L. Fingerman, Zexi Zhou, William E. Haley, and Steven H. Zarit, July 2025

Young adults aged 18 to 29 increasingly play a vital role in the family caregiving landscape, often stepping in to support older relatives when other caregivers are unavailable. Estimates suggest that up to 10 million young adults in the U.S. are caregivers, but their needs remain understudied and poorly understood. Unlike older caregivers, young adults are simultaneously navigating key developmental transitions—such as completing education, starting careers, and forming long-term relationships. In the brief, CAPS Research Director Karen Fingerman and colleagues describe key research questions to better understand the characteristics, motivations, burdens, rewards, and potential long term consequences of caregiving among young adult caregivers. The authors then outline a new research and policy agenda to address the needs of young adult caregivers.

2024

High Financial Strain in Combination with Internalized Expectations to “Be Strong” are Linked to Worse Mental Health among Black Women in Early Mid-life

Christy L. Erving, Izraelle I. McKinnon, Courtney S. Thomas Tobin, Miriam E. Van Dyke, Raphiel Murden, Reneé H. Moore, Bianca Booker, Viola Vaccarino, Tené T. Lewis, October 2024

Black women in the United States are expected to exude strength, suppress emotions, resist vulnerability, succeed despite structural barriers, and aid others selflessly. Known as Superwoman Schema, studies have demonstrated that Black women who endorse its dimensions experience worse mental health. Black women also experience financial strain, which also negatively impacts their mental health. In this brief, CAPS faculty affiliate Christy Erving and colleagues report on a recent study in which they used an intersectional lens to explore how multiple dimensions of Black women’s lives impact their mental health. They focus on early mid-life, a time when women are expected to fulfill their gendered obligations to take care of family while also attempting to build and advance in their careers. They found that Superwoman Schema was associated with elevated symptoms of depression; that traditional SES measures were not related to depressive symptoms but those experiencing financial strain did experience elevated depression. They also found that Black women experiencing the highest levels of financial strain who also more strongly endorsed Superwoman Schema had the highest levels of depressive symptoms. To counteract the negative impact of financial strain coupled with the cultural expectations to be strong while suppressing their emotions, the authors advocate for more culturally sensitive and accessible mental health services for Black women as well as capital investments and student loan debt relief.

The Impact of Dementia on Living Arrangements among Older Mexican and Mexican American Adults

Jacqueline L. Angel, Mariana López-Ortega, Chi-Tsun Chiu, Sunshine M. Rote, Phillip Cantu, Felipe Antequera, and Ching-An Chen, June 2024

More and more people are living to older ages in much of the world, including in North and South America. In the Americas, the number of people living with dementia is expected to nearly double in the coming decades, increasing from 15 million in 2030 to over 27 million by 2050. Dementia is one of the most common causes of disability and dependence in the world and is a primary reason that older people need supportive living situations. In this brief, CAPS and PRC scholar Jacqueline Angel and colleagues, report on a study that describes changes in living arrangements among two groups of older adults living with dementia: Mexicans and Mexican American people living in the Southwestern United States. They found that as dementia progresses, it shaped late-life transitions in household living arrangements depending on family household resources and structure. For both Mexicans and Mexican Americans, dementia was clearly associated with living with others. Nevertheless, a significant portion of the oldest Mexicans and Mexican Americans with likely severe cognitive impairment continued to live alone. The authors argue that researchers and policymakers need to investigate what dementia care is possible within the fiscal constraints of low-income nations and low-resource communities in the U.S. to inform efforts to support age-friendly dementia infrastructures.

Greater Neighborhood Cohesion in Childhood and in Older Adults’ Current Neighborhoods Each Predict Higher Cognitive Function

Jean Choi, Sae Hwang Han, Yee To Ng, & Elizabeth Muñoz, January 2024

Healthy cognitive function allows people to better maintain their independence and economic productivity in adulthood. A sense of neighborhood cohesion–the perceived degree of trust, reciprocity, and sense of belonging among members of a community–may be one of the modifiable factors that can promote cognitive health and delay the onset of cognitive decline. This brief, from PRC Graduate Student Trainee Jean Choi and CAPS Faculty Affiliates Sae Hwang Han and Elizabeth Muñoz and colleague used data from the Health and Retirement Survey to investigate the effects on cognitive aging of perceived neighborhood cohesion at different life stages—childhood, young adulthood, early midlife, and late midlife/late adulthood. They found that greater perceived neighborhood cohesion in childhood and late midlife/late adulthood (people ranging in age from 51 to 89 at baseline) each predicted higher cognitive function at baseline. They argue that policies to enhance people’s sense of belonging and trust in their neighborhoods across the life course can be important ways to promote healthy cognitive aging.

 

2023

Older U.S. Adults Who Started Exercising After a Fall Were Less Likely to Experience Another Fall in the Following Two Years

Namkee G. Choi, C. Nathan Marti, Bryan Y. Choi, and Mark M. Kunik, October 2023

More than 25% of adults age 65 and over fall every year in the United States. Among older adults who fall, approximately 40% experience two or more falls in the same year. Falls often result from a combination of physical or functional, medical, psychological, sensory and cognitive risk factors and environmental circumstances. In recurrent falls – that is, two or more falls in a year or over a given timeframe – previous falls are the most significant additional risk factor. This brief, from CAPS Faculty Affiliate Namkee Choi and colleagues, summarizes findings from a recent study that used longitudinal data from a nationally representative sample of adults age 70 and older to examine single and recurrent fall risk and impacts over 3 years. They found that rates of falling were high among older adults; older adults who started exercising after a fall in 2019 were less likely to experience a recurrent fall in the following 2 years; both a single fall and recurrent falls were associated with a higher risk of hospitalization; older adults with recurrent falls had worse physical or functional health and more psychological health problems at baseline compared to older adults who did not fall; and racial and ethnic differences in the risk of single and recurrent falls were identified. To reduce falls among older adults, they advocate for expanding the reach of evidence-based fall prevention programs.

Volunteering Improves Older Parents' Mental Health After the Death of a Child

Hyungmin Cha and Patricia A. Thomas, August 2023

About 13% of parents experience the death of their child, a devastating and stressful life event with negative mental health consequences. Few studies, however, have asked whether parents’ mental health eventually returns to the levels they had before losing their child, and if so, how long the healing process takes. Still fewer studies still have examined whether certain activities may lessen recovery time. Hyungmin Cha, former CAPS and PRC graduate student trainee and current postdoctoral fellow at USC’s Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, and Patricia Thomas, former PRC postdoctoral fellow (2010-2013) and current associate professor of sociology at Purdue University, analyze Health and Retirement Study data to examine of the duration of mental health recovery for bereaved parents. They also measure the impact of volunteering on that recovery. They find that, compared to nonbereaved parents, parents aged 50 and older whose child died between 1998 and 2016 had an immediate increase in depression after child loss and then returned to their pre-bereavement levels after about 7 years. They also found that depression for bereaved parents who started volunteering after their loss returned to their pre-bereavement levels more quickly, in about 4 years. They advocate for policies and programs to encourage volunteering to help older parents recover their mental health more quickly after child loss. Published in partnership with UT Austin’s Center on Aging and Population Sciences.

Children Growing Up in Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Families and from Marginalized Racial/Ethnic Groups Tend to Have Epigenetic Profiles Associated with a Faster Pace of Biological Aging

Laurel Raffington, Peter T. Tanksley, Aditi Sabhlok, Liza Vinnik, Travis Mallard, Lucy S. King, Bridget Goosby, Kathryn P. Harden, and Elliot M. Tucker-Drob, March 2023

To better understand how social inequalities become embedded in the body and impact the mind across the lifespan, researchers can study a child’s epigenetic profile – a score based on markers on the DNA that turn genes “on” or “off.” In this brief, former Population Research Center Postdoctoral Fellow Laurel Raffington, along with CAPS Faculty Affiliates Elliot Tucker-Drob and Bridget Goosby and colleagues, took DNA-methylation samples from the saliva of young people participating in the Texas Twin Project to create epigenetic profiles. They found that the epigenetic profiles of children from disadvantaged backgrounds looked worse than those of other children, including a faster pace of biological aging, higher chronic inflammation, and lower cognitive functioning. The authors argue that, to decrease disparities in the cognitive and physical health of adults, interventions to reduce educational, nutritional, and environmental disparities need to start in childhood.

2022

Social Isolation Increases from Adolescence through Later Life but Varies by Gender, Age, and Partnership Status

Debra Umberson, Zhiyong Lin, and Hyungmin Cha, October 2022

Substantial evidence has found that people who are socially isolated experience worse mental and physical health and are more likely to die compared to their less isolated peers. And while the negative health impacts of social isolation affect both men and women, social isolation unfolds over the life course and perhaps in different ways for men and women. In this research brief, CAPS director and PRC faculty scholar Debra Umberson, along with PRC faculty affiliate Zhiyong Lin, and CAPS/PRC graduate student trainee Hyungmin Cha, report on a recent study that explores the gendered patterns of social isolation from adolescence to old age. Using Add Health and Health and Retirement Study data, they find that social isolation increases from adolescence through later life and that men are more socially isolated than women across all age and partnership categories with one exception: after age 62, married women are more socially isolated than married men.

The Unequal Burden of Child Death Adds to Disadvantage in Psychological Distress for Black and Hispanic Parents

Debra Umberson and Rachel Donnelly, February 2022

Hundreds of studies have documented the adverse psychological consequences after parents experience the death of a child. However, very little is known about racial/ethnic variation in life course experiences following the death of a child. These gaps in knowledge are striking in the American context of systemic racism and recent public attention to grief associated with premature mortality in racial and ethnic minority communities. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study, CAPS co-director Debra Umberson and colleague Rachel Donnelly investigate how experiencing a child’s death is associated with parents’ subsequent psychological distress in mid to later life. They find that all parents who experienced a child’s death had higher levels of psychological distress in mid to later life than their nonbereaved counterparts but Black and Hispanic parents who experienced a child’s death had the highest levels of psychological distress. The authors advocate for more screening of bereavement-related risks in mid to later life with appropriate intervention to improve mental health outcomes. Published in partnership with UT Austin’s Population Research Center.

2021

Older Adults Who Live Alone Benefited from Seeing People in Person during the COVID Pandemic but Not Necessarily by Talking on the Phone

Karen L. Fingerman, Yee To Ng, Shiyang Zhang, Katherine Britt, Gianna Colera, Kira S. Birditt, and Susan T. Charles, January 2021

Approximately one-third of women and one-fifth of men aged 60 and over in the U.S. live alone and are at heightened risk of social isolation due to social distancing and other safety precautions introduced to curtail the spread of COVID-19. This brief, from PRC faculty research associate Karen Fingerman and colleagues, reports on a recent study which examines how daily positive emotions and negative emotions vary based on whether people live alone during the pandemic. They found that older adults who live alone experienced more positive emotions when they saw someone in person compared to those who had no in-person contact but that older adults who live alone experienced more negative emotions, especially loneliness, when they talked to someone on the phone. They are argue that those who want to support emotional well-being in older adults who live alone with in-person contact should do so while following COVID-19 safety guidelines.

 2020

Liberal State Policies Improve Life Expectancy

Jennifer Karas Montez, Jason Beckfield, Julene Kemp Cooney, Jacob M. Grumbach, Mark D. Hayward, Huseyin Zeyd Koytak, Steven H. Woolf, and Anna Zajacova, October 2020

Life expectancy of people in the United States ranks last among 22 high-income countries. National averages obscure large differences within the states, which in 2017 ranged from a high of 81.6 years Hawaii to a low of 74.6 years in West Virginia. The state policy environment is critical to understanding these large disparities among U.S. states. In this study, former PRC trainee Jennifer Karas Montez, along with PRC faculty research associate Mark Hayward and co-authors, examine the impact of state policies on life expectancy in U.S. states from 1970 to 2014. They find that states that implemented more liberal policies that expanded economic regulations and protected marginalized groups saw a rise in their life expectancy while states that implemented more conservative policies were more likely to see a lowering of life expectancy for its residents.

 

 

 

 

Would you like your research featured in our CAPS Research Brief Series? The CAPS Research & Policy Brief Series is organized and edited by Kristine Hopkins. Contact her with research and policy brief ideas, questions or comments.