Residential context and epigenetic age acceleration among older-age black and white Americans: Findings from the health and retirement study, 2010-2016

This study examines whether residential contexts account for Black-White disparities in epigenetic age acceleration (EAA), a key biomarker of premature aging. Relevant hypotheses are tested by merging survey, biomarker, and contextual data from non-Hispanic Black and White older-adult participants of the Health and Retirement Study who provided venous blood samples in 2016 (n = 3187; mean age = 69). Using multigroup structural equation modeling techniques, we decompose direct and indirect paths between a latent variable of EAA-comprised of GrimAge, PhenoAge, and DunedinPoAm38 clocks-and five features of residential contexts: racial clustering of residents, air pollution, greenspace, household incomes, and perceived disorder. We find that White respondents who lived in areas with a high clustering of other White residents in 2010 exhibit lower EAA in 2016, relative to White peers who lived in areas with fewer White residents. Higher household incomes in predominantly White areas account for around 25% of this association. With one minor exception, we find no significant paths between residential contexts and EAA among Black participants. These findings are also robust to numerous control measures and sensitivity analyses. Our study highlights concentrated privilege in predominantly White areas as potential drivers of Black-White health and aging disparities. We discuss the broader implications of our study and outline several avenues for future research that could advance our findings.