Logo image
Back
EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, WORKPLACE PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOSOCIAL CONTEXTS, AND EPIGENETIC AGING: A CROSS-SECTIONAL ANALYSIS USING DATA FROM THE MIDLIFE IN THE UNITED STATES (MIDUS) STUDY
Abstract

EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, WORKPLACE PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOSOCIAL CONTEXTS, AND EPIGENETIC AGING: A CROSS-SECTIONAL ANALYSIS USING DATA FROM THE MIDLIFE IN THE UNITED STATES (MIDUS) STUDY

Madeline Paige Lengyel, Madeline J Plummer and Agus Surachman
Biopsychosocial science and medicine, v 88(5), pp A44-A44
Jun 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0000000000001488#page=A44

Abstract

Aging
Workplace physical and psychosocial factors are critical modifiable social contexts through which socioeconomically disadvantaged populations may experience greater levels of physical and psychosocial stressors, contributing to disparities in accelerated aging. This study examines links among educational attainment, workplace physical hazards, chronic job discrimination, perceived inequality in work, and epigenetic aging. Data were from 900 participants (M age = 52, 54% female, 70% NH white) in the Midlife in the United States Study (MIDUS) wave 2 and Refresher who completed the survey and biomarker protocol and consented to genetic analysis. Workplace physical hazards were quantified using 10 items related to hazardous (e.g., exposure to hazardous equipment or exposure to high places) and environmental (e.g., very hot or cold temperatures, or extremely bright or inadequate lighting conditions) factors associated with participants’ occupations from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) data. Chronic job discrimination was based on six items related to the frequency of experiencing unfair treatment in the workplace (e.g., “How often do you think you are unfairly given the jobs that no one else wanted to do?”) on a 5-level Likert scale (never to once a week or more). The perceived inequality in work was measured using six items (e.g., “I feel cheated about the chances I have had to work at good jobs.”) on a 4-level Likert scale (from not at all to a lot). Finally, we included three epigenetic aging measures known to be predictive of morbidity and mortality (PhenoAge, GrimAge2, and DunedinPACE pace of aging). Mediation analysis was conducted in R using the PROCESS package with 10,000 bootstrapped samples, adjusted for age, sex, BMI, and smoking status. Relative to those with bachelor’s degrees or higher, participants with lower levels of education work in jobs with higher physical hazards, reported higher chronic job discrimination, and perceived inequality in work, as well as showed faster GrimAge2 age acceleration and DunedinPACE pace of aging. Adjusted for age and sex, higher workplace physical hazard and chronic job discrimination were associated with faster GrimAge2 and DunedinPACE, but the associations became non-significant after adding BMI and smoking in the models. Higher perceived inequality in work was associated with faster GrimAge2 and DunedinPACE, even after adjusting for BMI and smoking. The association between lower education and faster GrimAge2 and DunedinPACE was significantly mediated by higher perceived inequality in work. These findings highlight workplace inequality as a critical pathway through which socioeconomic disadvantage contributes to accelerated aging.

Metrics

1 Record Views

Details

Logo image