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Author: Zajacova, Anna
Resulting in 6 citations.
1. Burgard, Sarah
Zajacova, Anna
Dyer, Shauna
Wage Gains, but Few Health Returns to Some College: A Role for Employment Histories?
Presented: Chicago IL, Population Association of America Annual Meeting, April 2017
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): College Enrollment; Employment, History; Health, Mental/Psychological; Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; Work Hours/Schedule

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

Recent evidence suggests that adults with some college but less than a bachelor's degree do not have better health than high school graduates, countering the standard expectation for an educational gradient. We propose that relatively unstable, suboptimal employment histories could account for the lack of health gains from their additional schooling. Using the NLSY97, we examine (1) employment histories by educational attainment among young adults with postsecondary schooling, and (2) assess whether varying employment histories explain educational differences in physical and mental health. Preliminary results suggest that adults with some college earn more than HS graduates but are not different in their health scores or number of job changes, and they are more likely to work night or irregular shifts. Cross-sectional employment characteristics do not explain the health pattern at the some-college level, but employment history analyses (pending) may reveal a stronger effect of this mediator. [Also presented at Montreal, QC, American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, August 2017]
Bibliography Citation
Burgard, Sarah, Anna Zajacova and Shauna Dyer. "Wage Gains, but Few Health Returns to Some College: A Role for Employment Histories?" Presented: Chicago IL, Population Association of America Annual Meeting, April 2017.
2. Zajacova, Anna
Burgard, Sarah
Postsecondary Education and Mental Health: Effects of Earned Credits versus Credentials
Presented: Seattle WA, American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, August 2016
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: American Sociological Association
Keyword(s): College Degree; College Major/Field of Study/Courses; Depression (see also CESD); Educational Attainment; Grade Point Average (GPA)/Grades; Modeling, Fixed Effects; Modeling, OLS; Schooling, Post-secondary

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

Does the quantity of education obtained or the specific credentials earned matter more for adult mental health? These two alternatives reflect competing theories of the association between educational attainment and adult mental and physical health --human capital theory and credential theory-- but have been difficult to adjudicate between in past research. We use the new Postsecondary Transcript Files addendum to the NLSY97 that includes detailed information on both the number of postsecondary credits obtained and specific credentials earned to provide new leverage. We focus on depressive symptoms as a particularly salient health dimension in early adulthood. We analyze the data using multiple approaches within the regression (OLS, fixed-effects) and structural equation frameworks. Results show that more credits and higher credentials are each independently associated with fewer depressive symptoms. However, if we stratify by or control the terminal postsecondary credential (none, AA, or BA), more earned credits are not associated with additional gains in mental health, suggesting stronger support for credential theory.
Bibliography Citation
Zajacova, Anna and Sarah Burgard. "Postsecondary Education and Mental Health: Effects of Earned Credits versus Credentials." Presented: Seattle WA, American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, August 2016.
3. Zajacova, Anna
Montez, Jennifer Karas
The Health Penalty of the GED: Testing the Role of Noncognitive Skills, Health Behaviors, and Economic Factors
Social Science Quarterly 98,1 (March 2017): 1-15.
Also: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ssqu.12246/abstract
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Wiley Online
Keyword(s): GED/General Educational Diploma/General Equivalency Degree/General Educational Development; Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; High School Diploma; Noncognitive Skills; Socioeconomic Factors

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

Objectives: The general educational development (GED) diploma is intended to be equivalent to a high school (HS) credential; however, recent evidence finds that GED recipients have worse health than HS graduates. This study aims to explain the health disadvantage, focusing on three domains: noncognitive skills, health behaviors, and economic factors.

Methods: We analyze data on 3,119 HS graduates and GED recipients in the NLSY79 who reported their health status at the age of 40. Logistic and ordinal regression models examine whether the three domains account for the GED health disadvantage.

Results: The GED health disadvantage was jointly explained by lower noncognitive skills, unhealthy behaviors, and adverse economic circumstances, with the latter being particularly important.

Conclusions: A multipronged approach may be necessary to reduce the GED health disadvantage, including improving noncognitive skills during K-12 education, expanding opportunities for employment and living wage for low-skill workers, and continued focus on improving health behaviors.

Bibliography Citation
Zajacova, Anna and Jennifer Karas Montez. "The Health Penalty of the GED: Testing the Role of Noncognitive Skills, Health Behaviors, and Economic Factors." Social Science Quarterly 98,1 (March 2017): 1-15.
4. Zajacova, Anna
Montez, Jennifer Karas
The Health Value of the GED: Testing the Role of Noncognitive Skills, Health Behaviors, and Labor-Market Factors
Presented: Boston MA, Population Association of America Annual Meeting, May 2014
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): GED/General Educational Diploma/General Equivalency Degree/General Educational Development; Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; High School Diploma; Labor Market Outcomes; Modeling, Structural Equation; Noncognitive Skills

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

Half a million Americans earn the General Educational Development (GED) every year. The GED certification is intended to be equivalent to a high school (HS) diploma; however, econometricians have long known that GED recipients are disadvantaged relative to HS graduates in numerous domains. Recently, several studies have turned attention to another domain, adult health, and uncovered a large health disadvantage of GED recipients. This project aims to explain the health disadvantage, focusing on three groups of factors known to differ between GED recipients and HS diploma holders: non-cognitive skills, health behaviors, and labor-market outcomes. We use the NLSY79 (N=3,869) data on respondents from adolescence to age 40 when they were administered a battery of health questions. Structural equation models will be used to examine the joint direct and indirect effects of the three explanatory factors on multiple health indicators. Preliminary results indicate the hypothesized factors explain the GED-HS health gap.
Bibliography Citation
Zajacova, Anna and Jennifer Karas Montez. "The Health Value of the GED: Testing the Role of Noncognitive Skills, Health Behaviors, and Labor-Market Factors." Presented: Boston MA, Population Association of America Annual Meeting, May 2014.
5. Zajacova, Anna
Walsemann, Katrina Michelle
Adolescent Health and Its Effects on Educational Attainment: Evidence from Two Nationally Representative Longitudinal Studies (NLSY79 and NLSY97)
Presented: New Orleans LA, Population Association of America Annual Meeting, April 2013
Cohort(s): NLSY79, NLSY97
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Educational Attainment; Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; Modeling, Fixed Effects

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

We examine how adolescent health impacts educational attainment among American adults. Linear models and within-sibling fixed-effects models are used to analyze data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1979 and 1997 cohorts, which include information on the adolescents’ health, parental background, cognitive and non-cognitive skills, and subsequent educational attainment. The results indicate that adolescent health limitations and self-rated health are only moderately associated with adult educational attainment. The bivariate relationship is in the expected direction and significant but the effects are fully explained by ‘traditional’ predictors of attainment like parental background. The results suggest that at the population level, adolescent health may not have a pronounced independent influence on educational attainment. Research on educational determinants of adult health should primarily incorporate individuals’ childhood socioeconomic status and cognitive and noncognitive characteristics as potential confounders.
Bibliography Citation
Zajacova, Anna and Katrina Michelle Walsemann. "Adolescent Health and Its Effects on Educational Attainment: Evidence from Two Nationally Representative Longitudinal Studies (NLSY79 and NLSY97)." Presented: New Orleans LA, Population Association of America Annual Meeting, April 2013.
6. Zajacova, Anna
Walsemann, Katrina Michelle
Dowd, Jennifer Beam
The Long Arm of Adolescent Health Among Men and Women: Does Attained Status Explain Its Association with Mid-Adulthood Health?
Population Research and Policy Review 34,1 (February 2015): 19-48.
Also: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11113-014-9327-8
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Springer
Keyword(s): Educational Attainment; Gender Differences; Health, Mental/Psychological; Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; Income; Life Course

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

A growing body of research has established the effect of early health on later-life health. This study extends the literature by (1) examining multiple dimensions of mid-adulthood health including physical and mental conditions, (2) analyzing attained status (education and income) as a potential pathway through which health problems in adolescence may impact later health, and (3) considering the role of gender in these life course processes. Using over 20 years of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1979 cohort (NLSY79), we test the associations between adolescent health limitations and eight adult health measures for men and women, and whether these associations are mediated by status attainment. We find strong links between adolescent health limitations and mid-adulthood health, especially among women. Among men, the associations are strong for measures of physical health but somewhat weaker for mental and general health measures--taking into account the men's demographic characteristics, family background, and skills, the effects of adolescent limitations become non-significant for these dimensions. These patterns are largely independent of attained socioeconomic status; that is, education and income do not appear to be critical pathways from adolescent to adult health. Understanding how early health influences the long-term trajectory of health and social capital accumulation for men and women is critical for developing social and health research and policy, in order to optimize health over the entire life course.
Bibliography Citation
Zajacova, Anna, Katrina Michelle Walsemann and Jennifer Beam Dowd. "The Long Arm of Adolescent Health Among Men and Women: Does Attained Status Explain Its Association with Mid-Adulthood Health?" Population Research and Policy Review 34,1 (February 2015): 19-48.