Citation
Donnelly, Rachel; Garcia, Michael A.; Cha, Hyungmin; Hummer, Robert A.; & Umberson, Debra (2023). Exposure to Family Member Deaths across the Life Course for Hispanic Individuals. Demography, 60(2), 539-562. PMCID: PMC10233821Abstract
The present study documents differences in exposure to family member deaths among foreign-born and U.S.-born Hispanic individuals compared with non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White individuals. We use data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS; 1992-2016, ages 51+; N = 23,228) and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health; Waves I-V, ages 12-43; N = 11,088) to estimate the risk of exposure to the death of a mother, father, spouse, sibling, and child across the life course. HRS results show more inequities in exposure to family deaths compared with Add Health results, suggesting differences by age or birth cohort. Compared with non-Hispanic Whites, U.S.-born Hispanic individuals in the HRS have a higher risk of experiencing a child's death throughout adulthood and a sibling's death in later life; the latter is explained by larger sibship size, indicating a greater lifetime risk of bereavement experiences. The higher risk of parental death during childhood for U.S.-born and foreign-born Hispanic individuals is explained by covariates (e.g., lower levels of educational attainment). Hispanic individuals generally have a lower risk of family deaths than non-Hispanic Black individuals, but at times a higher risk of exposure relative to non-Hispanic White individuals.URL
http://dx.doi.org/10.1215/00703370-10604036Reference Type
Journal ArticleYear Published
2023Journal Title
DemographyAuthor(s)
Donnelly, RachelGarcia, Michael A.
Cha, Hyungmin
Hummer, Robert A.
Umberson, Debra
Article Type
RegularPMCID
PMC10233821Data Set/Study
National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health)Health and Retirement Study (HRS)
Continent/Country
United States of AmericaState
NonspecificRace/Ethnicity
BlackWhite
Hispanic