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Author: Spence, Naomi J.
Resulting in 6 citations.
1. Spence, Naomi J.
Reproductive Patterns and Women's Later Life Health
Ph.D. Dissertation, Florida State University, December 2006.
Also: http://etd.lib.fsu.edu/theses/available/etd-08252006-121316/unrestricted/SpenceN.pdf
Cohort(s): Mature Women
Publisher: Department of Sociology, Florida State University
Keyword(s): Age at First Birth; Depression (see also CESD); Fertility; Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; Life Course; Mortality; Self-Reporting

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Fertility is central to the life experiences of women. As such, it has consequences for all aspects of their lives. Driven largely by contemporary trends in the timing of childbearing and family size, researchers have begun asking questions about the long-term consequences of women's reproductive patterns. This dissertation seeks to further our understanding of the relationship between women's reproductive patterns and later well-being by systematically investigating these relationships and possible mechanisms driving it. Using data collected over 35 years beginning in 1967 on a nationally representative cohort of mature women in the United States, I examine the relationship between non-normative reproductive patterns measured as 1) childlessness, 2) off-time childbearing by parity, 3) late childbearing, and 4) premarital childbearing and mortality, self-rated health, and depression.

This dissertation has three main findings. First, the effects of non-normative childbearing are different across health outcomes, although some overlap does exist. Second, more extreme deviations from normative reproductive patterns have negative consequences for later life indirectly through social, economic, and health statuses. In particular, an early initiation of childbearing coupled with high parity is associated with an elevated mortality risk and worse self-rated health through the mechanism of lower educational attainment. Mothers who delay childbearing until at least the later twenties and achieve high parity tend to be more depressed and have worse self-rated health, but these effects are mediated by other health outcomes. Finally, I find that extending childbearing into the last decade of the reproductive period can be detrimental for the well-being of mothers in terms of their self-ratings of health. However, this is also accounted for by late life health, depression in particular. The findings of this dissertation highlight the need to consider multiple dimensions of reproductive patterns because of the demonstrated differences in their effects on later well-being, as well as multiple dimensions of life course correlates and consequences of reproductive patterns and health because of the demonstrated differences in the mediation of relationships of non-normative reproductive patterns and indicators of well-being.

Bibliography Citation
Spence, Naomi J. Reproductive Patterns and Women's Later Life Health. Ph.D. Dissertation, Florida State University, December 2006..
2. Spence, Naomi J.
The Long-Term Consequences of Childbearing
Research on Aging 30,6 (November 2008): 722-751.
Also: http://roa.sagepub.com/content/30/6/722.abstract
Cohort(s): Mature Women
Publisher: Sage Publications
Keyword(s): Age at Birth; Childbearing; Depression (see also CESD); Health, Mental/Psychological; Pregnancy and Pregnancy Outcomes; Racial Differences; Socioeconomic Status (SES)

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Growing evidence points to relationships between patterns of childbearing and health outcomes for mothers; yet a need remains to clarify these relationships over the long term and to understand the underlying mechanisms. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Mature Women (N = 1,608), the author found that the long-term consequences of childbearing vary by health outcome. Early childbearing is associated with higher risk of activities of daily living limitations at ages 65 to 83, though effects appear stronger among White than Black mothers until socioeconomic status (SES) is controlled. Early childbearing is also associated with greater levels of depressive symptomatology, though this association is mediated by SES and health. Late childbearing is associated with more depressive symptoms net of early life and current SES, child proximity and support, and physical health. Finally, no significant effects of high parity are found. These findings emphasize the need to better understand the mechanisms linking childbearing histories to later physical and psychological well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Bibliography Citation
Spence, Naomi J. "The Long-Term Consequences of Childbearing." Research on Aging 30,6 (November 2008): 722-751.
3. Spence, Naomi J.
Timing of Childbearing and Disability in Older Age
Presented: New York, NY, Population Association of America Annual Meetings, March 29-31, 2007.
Also: http://paa2007.princeton.edu/abstractViewer.aspx?submissionId=71518
Cohort(s): Mature Women
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Age at Birth; Childbearing; Fertility; Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; Mothers, Education; Socioeconomic Status (SES)

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Fertility is central to the life experiences of women. As such, it has consequences for all aspects of their lives and implications for their long-term well-being, yet how fertility matters in the later years is relatively unknown. Using data on a nationally representative cohort of women in the United States, I examine the relationship between the timing of childbearing and disability in later life as measured by functional limitations and ADL limitations with attention to the mediating effects of early life and adult social and economic circumstances and later life health. Preliminary results indicate that early and premarital initiation of childbearing is positively associated with disability, though these effects are accounted for by educational attainment and adult socioeconomic status, respectively. Late childbearing is also found to be associated with an increased likelihood of having ADL limitations, but again educational attainment and adult social and economic characteristics explain this relationship.
Bibliography Citation
Spence, Naomi J. "Timing of Childbearing and Disability in Older Age." Presented: New York, NY, Population Association of America Annual Meetings, March 29-31, 2007.
4. Spence, Naomi J.
Timing of Childbearing and Disability in Older Age
Presented: Los Angeles, CA, Population Association of America Annual Meetings, March-April 2006.
Also: http://paa2007.princeton.edu/abstractViewer.aspx?submissionId=71518
Cohort(s): Mature Women
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Age at Birth; Childbearing; Childbearing, Adolescent; Disability; Fertility; Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; Life Course; Mothers, Education

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Fertility is central to the life experiences of women. As such, it has consequences for all aspects of their lives and implications for their long-term well-being, yet how fertility matters in the later years is relatively unknown. Using data on a nationally representative cohort of women in the United States, I examine the relationship between the timing of childbearing and disability in later life as measured by functional limitations and ADL limitations with attention to the mediating effects of early life and adult social and economic circumstances and later life health. Preliminary results indicate that early and premarital initiation of childbearing is positively associated with disability, though these effects are accounted for by educational attainment and adult socioeconomic status, respectively. Late childbearing is also found to be associated with an increased likelihood of having ADL limitations, but again educational attainment and adult social and economic characteristics explain this relationship.

I employ data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Mature Women (NLS-MW. Multistage probability sampling was used to draw a representative sample of 5,393 civilian, noninstitutionalized women aged 30-44 years in 1967, with an oversample of Black women (see US Department of Labor 2005 for more detailed information). Of those women, 94 percent participated in the baseline (1967) interview (N=5,083). Since then, the cohort has been interviewed a total of 20 times through 2003, when 2,237 (44 percent) of the original respondents were surveyed. Although the NLS-MW is well suited for studying the links between fertility timing and later life health, it is very well suited for the task. Data were gathered on the timing of women's childbearing, a wide range of socioeconomic status measures throughout the life course, and various dimensions of health in later life. Finally, the NLS-MW is one of the most extensive, long-running data collection efforts carr ied out with a cohort of Americans, providing a unique opportunity to study women at various life course stages with a sizeable sample to sustain multivariate analyses.

Bibliography Citation
Spence, Naomi J. "Timing of Childbearing and Disability in Older Age." Presented: Los Angeles, CA, Population Association of America Annual Meetings, March-April 2006.
5. Spence, Naomi J.
Adkins, Daniel E.
Dupre, Matthew E.
Racial Differences in Depression Trajectories among Older Women: Socioeconomic, Family, and Health Influences
Journal of Health and Social Behavior 52,4 (December 2011): 444-459.
Also: http://hsb.sagepub.com/content/52/4/444.abstract
Cohort(s): Mature Women
Publisher: American Sociological Association
Keyword(s): Depression (see also CESD); Health, Mental/Psychological; Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; Marital Status; Racial Differences; Socioeconomic Status (SES)

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Despite recent increases in life course research on mental illness, important questions remain about the social patterning of, and explanations for, depression trajectories among women in later life. The authors investigate competing theoretical frameworks for the age patterning of depressive symptoms and the physical health, socioeconomic, and family mechanisms differentiating black and white women. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Mature Women, the authors use linear mixed (growth curve) models to estimate trajectories of distress for women aged 52 to 81 years (N = 3,182). The results demonstrate that: (1) there are persistently higher levels of depressive symptoms among black women relative to white women throughout later life; (2) physical health and socioeconomic status account for much of the racial gap in depressive symptoms; and (3) marital status moderates race differences in distress. The findings highlight the importance of physical health, family, and socioeconomic status in racial disparities in mental health.
Bibliography Citation
Spence, Naomi J., Daniel E. Adkins and Matthew E. Dupre. "Racial Differences in Depression Trajectories among Older Women: Socioeconomic, Family, and Health Influences." Journal of Health and Social Behavior 52,4 (December 2011): 444-459.
6. Spence, Naomi J.
Eberstein, Isaac W.
Age at First Birth, Parity, and Post-Reproductive Mortality among White and Black Women in the US, 1982-2002.
Social Science and Medicine 68,9 (March 2009): 1625-1632.
Also: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953609000987
Cohort(s): Mature Women
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Age at First Birth; Fertility; First Birth; Mortality; Racial Differences

We investigate the relationship between the timing of first birth, parity, and women's risk of post-reproductive mortality over twenty-one years (1982-2002), among representative samples of black and white women in the United States. Data are taken from the National Longitudinal Survey of Mature Women. We find early childbearing to be associated with higher mortality among whites, while later childbearing is associated with higher mortality among blacks. The effect of age at first birth on white women's mortality is explained by background and mediating social, economic, and health related factors, but this effect remains robust for black women. In addition, childless white women have a higher risk of post-reproductive mortality than those with 2-3 children. High parity (6+ children) has a significant protective effect for blacks, though the effect is reduced with age. A similar protective effect of high parity becomes apparent among whites only after controlling for background and mediating characteristics. Findings are interpreted in light of the weathering hypothesis and from a life course framework that views women's fertility as adaptive to particular social and historical contexts.
Bibliography Citation
Spence, Naomi J. and Isaac W. Eberstein. "Age at First Birth, Parity, and Post-Reproductive Mortality among White and Black Women in the US, 1982-2002." Social Science and Medicine 68,9 (March 2009): 1625-1632.