# The Loved Ones Left Behind: Examining the Health Implications of Racial Inequities in Mortality

> **NIH NIH K01** · EMORY UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $132,057

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Blacks are more likely than whites to experience the deaths of multiple family members and experience them
at earlier ages. Between 1970-2004, an estimated 2.7 million excess black deaths occurred because of blacks’
elevated mortality rates. Further, the estimated 600,000 COVID-19 deaths in the US as of July 2021 have
directly impacted the lives of more than 5.3 million individuals in nuclear families according to a bereavement
multiplier, with blacks facing twice the risk of death from COVID-19 as whites. Although experiencing death
within a family or network powerfully shapes survivors’ health, we know little about how network death
contributes to health inequities. The objective of the proposed study is to quantify black–white disparities in
familial and household exposure to deaths and their relationship to disparities in psychological distress and all-
cause mortality. My specific aims are to: 1) quantify the prevalence of and racial disparities in network mortality
by lifecourse stage and socioeconomic status (SES) for blacks and whites, exploring differences before and
during COVID-19; 2) identify key perceived mechanisms through which exposure to death may impact the
SES–health feedback loop throughout the lifecourse and intergenerationally for blacks and whites using semi-
structured interviews, exploring differences before and during COVID-19; and 3a) estimate the contribution of
exposure to premature and cumulative deaths to black–white inequalities in psychological distress, before and
during COVID-19, and to all-cause mortality; and 3b) determine the extent to which SES mediates the
relationship of network mortality with psychological distress and all-cause mortality for blacks and whites. To
do this, I will analyze data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) and conduct semi-structured
interviews with black and white adults in Atlanta, GA. This project is innovative in its focus on examining racial
disparities in death from broader social network ties including extended kin and household members as well as
how network deaths can initiate a cascade of SES consequences that contribute to adverse health for
survivors. This K01 project will enhance my prior sociological training in race, racism, socioeconomic
inequality, and demography with additional training in: 1) social epidemiology, with a focus on racial health
inequities; 2) network analysis, survival analysis, and structural equation modeling; 3) qualitative and mixed
methods; and 4) use of PSID data. My access to excellent resources and mentoring at Emory University is
supplemented with affiliations at Harvard University and the University of Michigan. Study findings will provide
an evidence base for efforts to reform bereavement and family leave policies that do not account for the
collateral health effects of individuals embedded in networks beyond the traditional nuclear family. The K01 will
facilitate my transition to a scientific leader advancing po...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10784757
- **Project number:** 5K01MD016170-03
- **Recipient organization:** EMORY UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Angela R Dixon
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $132,057
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-06-19 → 2027-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10784757

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10784757, The Loved Ones Left Behind: Examining the Health Implications of Racial Inequities in Mortality (5K01MD016170-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10784757. Licensed CC0.

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