The Validity and Reliability of Retrospective Measures of Childhood Socioeconomic Status in the Health and Retirement Study: Evidence From the 1940 U.S. Census.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Retrospective measures of childhood socioeconomic status (SES) in cohort studies of aging that first observe people late in life-such as the Health and Retirement Study (HRS)-are widely used. However, their measurement validity and reliability are unknown. We assess the reliability and validity of the HRS's retrospective measures of parental education and childhood family finances.

Methods

We use records for 6,343 HRS sample members who were children in 1940 that have been linked to records from the complete-count 1940 U.S. Census. We assess interrater reliability by comparing (a) retrospective reports of childhood SES collected from sample members in the 1992-2018 HRS to (b) prospective measures of parallel concepts collected from HRS sample members' parents in t

SUBMITTER: Warren JR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9434433 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature