Tirth Bhatta (Sociology), assistant professor, published an article titled, "Intersecting Early-Life Selection Mechanisms: Socio-Historical Changes in Racially Stratified Effects of Education on Functional Limitations in the United States," in the Journal of Aging and Health.

Scholarship on sociohistorical changes in intersecting early-life selection mechanisms and their contribution to racially stratified education-based inequalities in later-life health is virtually nonexistent. This study is especially pertinent in the context of historical changes in race relations in the U.S. during the 20^th century. Drawing from the Health and Retirement Survey, this study assessed the impacts of childhood socioeconomic status (SES) on the relationship between education and functional limitations for black and white adults across birth cohorts. The disparities between black adults and white adults in impacts of childhood SES on both education and functional limitations were more pronounced in recent cohorts. The racial stratification in the impacts of education on functional limitations was documented across cohorts. However, after adjusting for childhood SES, this stratification narrowed considerably in recent cohorts. This study underscores the role of a sociohistorical context in shaping the effects of education on health at the intersection of race and cohort.