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

Published in ScienceDirect Social Science and Medicine, 2026.

In this recent publication, Reed T. DeAngelis, Nita Kanney, and Margaret T. Hicken examine how residential environments relate to Black-White disparities in biological aging. Using survey, neighborhood, and blood-sample data from 3,187 older adults in the Health and Retirement Study, they combine three DNA-based aging measures to assess epigenetic age acceleration, a marker of premature biological aging.

White participants living in areas with higher concentrations of White residents exhibited lower age acceleration, with higher neighborhood household incomes accounting for roughly one-quarter of this association. Comparable links were largely absent among Black participants. These findings highlight concentrated privilege in predominantly White neighborhoods as a potential contributor to racial inequalities in health and aging.