The Social Determinants of Health: Coming of Age
Annual Review of Public HealthPublished 3 March 2011Open access
Paula Braveman, Susan Egerter, David R. Williams
Citations2,404
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score8.29
SNIP8.48
Generate an AI Snapshot to get a quick, structured summary of this paper.
Study Snapshot
ObjectiveStudy objective
MethodsResearch methodology
PopulationPopulation studied
Sample sizeSample sizes
OutcomesStudy outcomes here
ResultsStudy results comes here
LimitationsResearch study limitations comes here
A concise AI-generated summary of the paper will appear here once you click Generate AI Snapshot.
TL;DR
Current knowledge about health effects of social (including economic) factors, knowledge gaps, and research priorities are reviewed, focusing on upstream social determinants that fundamentally shape the downstream determinants, such as behaviors, targeted by most interventions.
Abstract
In the United States, awareness is increasing that medical care alone cannot adequately improve health overall or reduce health disparities without also addressing where and how people live. A critical mass of relevant knowledge has accumulated, documenting associations, exploring pathways and biological mechanisms, and providing a previously unavailable scientific foundation for appreciating the role of social factors in health. We review current knowledge about health effects of social (including economic) factors, knowledge gaps, and research priorities, focusing on upstream social determinants-including economic resources, education, and racial discrimination-that fundamentally shape the downstream determinants, such as behaviors, targeted by most interventions. Research priorities include measuring social factors better, monitoring social factors and health relative to policies, examining health effects of social factors across lifetimes and generations, incrementally elucidating pathways through knowledge linkage, testing multidimensional interventions, and addressing political will as a key barrier to translating knowledge into action.
Keywords
Social SciencesMedicineHealth Professions
ScienceNeighborhoods and Violent Crime: A Multilevel Study of Collective Efficacy
11,862 Citations1997Robert J. Sampson, Stephen W. Raudenbush +1 more
Multilevel analyses showed that a measure of collective efficacy yields a high between-neighborhood reliability and is negatively associated with variations in violence, when individual-level characteristics, measurement error, and prior violence are controlled.
Choice Reviews OnlineHealthy work: stress, productivity, and the reconstruction of working life
8,294 Citations1990
Canadian Medical Association JournalHealth benefits of physical activity: the evidence
8,000 Citations2006Darren E. R. Warburton
It is revealed that the current Health Canada physical activity guidelines are sufficient to elicit health benefits, especially in previously sedentary people, and that a further increase in physical activity and fitness will lead to additional improvements in health status.
Annual Review of PsychologySocioeconomic Status and Child Development
5,391 Citations2002Robert H. Bradley, Robert F. Corwyn
A variety of mechanisms linking SES to child well-being have been proposed, with most involving differences in access to material and social resources or reactions to stress-inducing conditions by both the children themselves and their parents.
The LancetHealth inequalities among British civil servants: the Whitehall II study
3,605 Citations1991Michael Marmot, S. Stansfeld +8 more
There was an inverse association between employment grade and prevalence of angina, electrocardiogram evidence of ischaemia, and symptoms of chronic bronchitis, and self-perceived health status and symptoms were worse in subjects in lower status jobs.
Journal of Behavioral MedicineDiscrimination and racial disparities in health: evidence and needed research
3,344 Citations2008David R. Williams, Selina A. Mohammed
Advancing the understanding of the relationship between perceived discrimination and health will require more attention to situating discrimination within the context of other health-relevant aspects of racism, measuring it comprehensively and accurately, assessing its stressful dimensions, and identifying the mechanisms that link discrimination to health.
Annual Review of Public HealthADOLESCENT RESILIENCE: A Framework for Understanding Healthy Development in the Face of Risk
2,886 Citations2004Stevenson Fergus, Marc A. Zimmerman
Annals of the New York Academy of SciencesNeighborhoods and health
2,747 Citations2010Ana V. Diez Roux, Christina Mair
This chapter summarizes key work in this area with a particular focus on chronic disease outcomes (specifically obesity and related risk factors) and mental health ( specifically depression and depressive symptoms) and empirical work is classified into two main eras.
Journal of Developmental & Behavioral PediatricsFrom Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development
2,680 Citations2001William B. Carey
Journal of Behavioral MedicineSocial Support and Health: A Review of Physiological Processes Potentially Underlying Links to Disease Outcomes
2,494 Citations2006Bert N. Uchino
Evidence linking social support to changes in cardiovascular, neuroendocrine, and immune function and related to more positive “biological profiles” across these disease-relevant systems is examined.
Public Health ReportsRacial Residential Segregation: A Fundamental Cause of Racial Disparities in Health
2,419 Citations2001Daniel R. Williams
American PsychologistThe Environment of Childhood Poverty.
2,387 Citations2004Gary W. Evans
The accumulation of multiple environmental risks rather than singular risk exposure may be an especially pathogenic aspect of childhood poverty.
Journal of General Internal MedicineLiteracy and health outcomes
2,270 Citations2004Darren A. DeWalt, Nancy D Berkman +3 more
The whole study team reconciled disagreements about information in evidence tables and resolved disagreements by discussion about information in evidence tables in each study.
JAMASocioeconomic Status in Health Research
2,174 Citations2005Paula Braveman, Catherine Cubbin +5 more
Evidence shows that conclusions about nonsocioeconomic causes of racial/ethnic differences in health may depend on the measure-eg, income, wealth, education, occupation, neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics, or past socioeconomic experiences used to "control for SES," suggesting that findings from studies that have measured limited aspects of SES should be reassessed.
Public Health ReportsRacial residential segregation: A fundamental cause of racial disparities in health
2,144 Citations2001David R. Williams, Chiquita Collins
CriminologyNEIGHBORHOOD INEQUALITY, COLLECTIVE EFFICACY, AND THE SPATIAL DYNAMICS OF URBAN VIOLENCE*
1,863 Citations2001Jeffrey D. Morenoff, Robert J. Sampson +1 more
PEDIATRICSInequality in the Built Environment Underlies Key Health Disparities in Physical Activity and Obesity
1,793 Citations2006Penny Gordon‐Larsen, Melissa C. Nelson +2 more
Assessment of the geographic and social distribution of PA facilities and how disparity in access might underlie population-level PA and overweight patterns in US adolescents found inequality in availability ofPA facilities may contribute to ethnic and SES disparities in PA and obese patterns.
Social Science & MedicineIncome inequality and population health: A review and explanation of the evidence
1,775 Citations2005Richard G. Wilkinson, Kate E. Pickett
It is suggested that the studies of income inequality are more supportive in large areas because in that context income inequality serves as a measure of the scale of social stratification, or how hierarchical a society is.
Annals of the New York Academy of SciencesCentral role of the brain in stress and adaptation: Links to socioeconomic status, health, and disease
1,682 Citations2010Bruce S. McEwen, Peter J. Gianaros
This review focuses specifically on the links between stress-related processes embedded within the social environment and embodied within the brain, which is viewed as the central mediator and target of allostasis and allostatic load.
Annual Review of Public HealthHEALTH DISPARITIES AND HEALTH EQUITY: Concepts and Measurement
1,561 Citations2005Paula Braveman
This paper aims to clarify the concepts of health disparities/inequalities (used interchangeably here) and health equity, focusing on the implications of different definitions for measurement and hence for accountability.
American Journal of Public HealthSocioeconomic Disparities in Health in the United States: What the Patterns Tell Us
1,547 Citations2010Paula Braveman, Catherine Cubbin +3 more
Health in the United States is often, though not invariably, patterned strongly along both socioeconomic and racial/ethnic lines, suggesting links between hierarchies of social advantage and health.
Annals of the New York Academy of SciencesRace, socioeconomic status, and health: Complexities, ongoing challenges, and research opportunities
1,469 Citations2010David R. Williams, Selina A. Mohammed +2 more
It is shown that differences in socioeconomic status across racial groups are a major contributor to racial disparities in health and research is needed that will enhance understanding of the complex ways in which race, SES, and immigrant status combine to affect health.
Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesAllostatic load as a marker of cumulative biological risk: MacArthur studies of successful aging
1,372 Citations2001Teresa E. Seeman, Bruce S. McEwen +2 more
AL was a better predictor of mortality and decline in physical functioning than either the syndrome X or primary mediator components alone and the findings support the concept of AL as a measure of cumulative biological burden.
Archives of Internal MedicinePrice of Adaptation—Allostatic Load and Its Health Consequences
1,329 Citations1997Teresa E. Seeman
An operational definition of allostatic load is presented, along with preliminary evidence of its predictive validity in relation to salient outcomes of aging, to provide the basis for a more comprehensive assessment of major risks in the aging process.
Social Integration, Social Networks, Social Support, and Health
1,294 Citations2000Lisa Berkman, Thomas A. Glass
The LancetContribution of job control and other risk factors to social variations in coronary heart disease incidence
1,276 Citations1997Michael Marmot, Hans Bosma +3 more
Much of the inverse social gradient in CHD incidence can be attributed to differences in psychosocial work environment, and from factors that act early in life, as represented by physical height.
Social Science & MedicineThe relative influence of individual, social and physical environment determinants of physical activity
1,264 Citations2002Billie Giles‐Corti, Robert J. Donovan
The results suggest that access to a supportive physical environment is necessary, but may be insufficient to increase recommended levels of physical activity in the community, and that greater emphasis be placed on creating streetscapes that enhance walking for recreation and transport.
Annual Review of SociologyThe Dynamics of Racial Residential Segregation
1,252 Citations2003Camille Z. Charles
Education, Social Status, and Health
1,216 Citations2017John Mirowsky, Catherine E. Ross
Education as learned effectiveness the association between education and health education, personal control, lifestyle and healthEducation, socioeconomic status and healtheducation, interpersonal relationships and health age and cumulative advantage specious views of education conclusion - self-direction toward health.
Child DevelopmentHow Money Matters for Young Children's Development: Parental Investment and Family Processes
1,189 Citations2002Wei‐Jun Jean Yeung, Miriam R. Linver +1 more
Much of the association between income and children's W-J scores was mediated by the family's ability to invest in providing a stimulating learning environment, and family income was associated with children's BPI scores primarily through maternal emotional distress and parenting practices.
Dialogues in Clinical NeuroscienceProtective and damaging effects of stress mediators: central role of the brain
1,152 Citations2006Bruce S. McEwen
Applied Developmental ScienceEarly Childhood Education: Young Adult Outcomes From the Abecedarian Project
1,148 Citations2002Frances A. Campbell, Craig T. Ramey +3 more
The high-risk infants who initially enrolled in the Abecedarian Project, a longitudinal prospective study of the benefits of early childhood educational intervention within a child care setting, were followed up as young adults (age 21 years).
JAMAAssociation of Socioeconomic Position With Health Behaviors and Mortality
1,026 Citations2010Silvia Stringhini
In a civil service population in London, England, there was an association between socioeconomic position and mortality that was substantially accounted for by adjustment for health behaviors, particularly when the behaviors were assessed repeatedly.
American Journal of Preventive MedicineSupermarkets, Other Food Stores, and Obesity
1,000 Citations2006Kimberly B. Morland, Ana V. Diez Roux +1 more
Results from this study suggest that characteristics of local food environments may play a role in the prevention of overweight and obesity.
Annual Review of Public HealthA LIFE COURSE APPROACH TO CHRONIC DISEASE EPIDEMIOLOGY
918 Citations2005John Lynch, George Davey Smith
It is underscore that a life course approach offers a way to conceptualize how underlying socio-environmental determinants of health, experienced at different life course stages, can differentially influence the development of chronic diseases, as mediated through proximal specific biological processes.
Oxford University Press eBooksSocial Relationships and Health
904 Citations2000Sheldon Cohen, Benjamin H. Gottlieb +1 more
National Academy Press eBooksAmerica becoming : racial trends and their consequences
811 Citations2000Neil J. Smelser, William Julius Wilson +1 more
Occupational and Environmental MedicineWork characteristics predict psychiatric disorder: prospective results from the Whitehall II Study.
803 Citations1999Stephen Stansfeld, Rebecca Fuhrer +2 more
Social support and control at work protect mental health while high job demands and effort-reward imbalance are risk factors for future psychiatric disorder.
Journal of Health and Social BehaviorNeighborhood Disadvantage and Adult Depression
774 Citations2000Catherine E. Ross
The Future of ChildrenThe Role of Built Environments in Physical Activity, Eating, and Obesity in Childhood
768 Citations2006James F. Sallis, Karen Glanz
People who have access to safe places to be active, neighborhoods that are walkable, and local markets that offer healthful food are likely to be more active and to eat more healthfulFood—two types of behavior that can lead to good health and may help avoid obesity.
DemographyThe mechanisms mediating the effects of poverty on children’s intellectual development
765 Citations2000Guang Guo, Kathleen Mullan Harris
This analysis investigates multiple mechanisms through which poverty affects a child’s intellectual development, using data from the NLSY and structural equation models to construct five latent factors and points to cognitive stimulation in the home and parenting style, physical environment of the home, and poor child health at birth as mediating factors.
American Journal of Public HealthOptimal Indicators of Socioeconomic Status for Health Research
753 Citations2002Greg J. Duncan, Mary C. Daly +2 more
Wealth and recent family income were the indicators that were most strongly associated with subsequent mortality and were stronger for women than for men and for non-elderly than for elderly individuals.
BMJSocioeconomic determinants of health : Health and social cohesion: why care about income inequality?
744 Citations1997Ichiro Kawachi, Bruce P. Kennedy
Reducing income inequality offers the prospect of greater social cohesiveness and better population health and the extent of inequality in society is often a consequence of explicit policies and public choice.
American Journal of Public HealthWorking Class Matters: Socioeconomic Disadvantage, Race/Ethnicity, Gender, and Smoking in NHIS 2000
727 Citations2004Elizabeth M. Barbeau, Nancy Krieger +1 more
Social Science & MedicineSocioeconomic status and health: The role of subjective social status
721 Citations2008Panayotes Demakakos, James Nazroo +2 more
The results suggest that SSS is an important correlate of health in old age, possibly because of its ability to epitomize life-time achievement and socioeconomic status.
Social Science & MedicineJob strain, effort-reward imbalance and employee well-being: a large-scale cross-sectional study
710 Citations2000Jan de Jonge, Hans Bosma +2 more
Findings show independent cumulative effects of both the JD-C Model and the ERI Model on employee well-being are not significantly different in men and women as well as in young and old people.
Educational Attainment in the United States: 2007.
705 Citations2009Sarah R. Crissey
Annals of the New York Academy of SciencesChildhood socioeconomic status and adult health
694 Citations2010Sheldon Cohen, Denise Janicki‐Deverts +2 more
The evidence supporting the link between childhood and adolescent SES and adult health is discussed, and different environmental, behavioral, and physiological pathways that might explain how early SES would influence adult health are explored.
American Journal of Human BiologyEpigenetics and the embodiment of race: Developmental origins of US racial disparities in cardiovascular health
676 Citations2008Christopher W. Kuzawa, Elizabeth Sweet
It is concluded that environmentally responsive phenotypic plasticity, in combination with the better‐studied acute and chronic effects of social‐environmental exposures, provides a more parsimonious explanation than genetics for the persistence of CVD disparities between members of socially imposed racial categories.
Annual Review of SociologySOCIOECONOMIC POSITION AND HEALTH: The Independent Contribution of Community Socioeconomic Context
671 Citations1999Stéphanie Robert
PEDIATRICSHealth Disparities Beginning in Childhood: A Life-Course Perspective
654 Citations2009Paula Braveman, Colleen Barclay
The strong life-course influences on adult health could provide a powerful rationale for policies at all levels to give more priority to investment in improving the living conditions of children as a strategy for improving health and reducing health disparities across the entire life course.
HeartSocial class and coronary heart disease.
647 Citations1981G Rose, Michael Marmot
It seems that there are major risk factors yet to be identified, and that these may throw light on how it is possible for members of a highly-placed social group to have a relatively low risk of coronary heart disease.
Social NetworksSocial resources and socioeconomic status
645 Citations1986Karen E. Campbell, Peter V. Marsden +1 more
Annals of EpidemiologySystematic Review of the Influence of Childhood Socioeconomic Circumstances on Risk for Cardiovascular Disease in Adulthood
633 Citations2005Bruna Galobardes, George Davey Smith +1 more
Annals of the New York Academy of SciencesThe Biological Embedding of Early Experience and Its Effects on Health in Adulthood
624 Citations1999Clyde Hertzman
The hypothesis that best fits current evidence is that the gradient is an “emergent property” of the interaction between the developmental status of people and the material and psychosocial conditions they encounter over their life course.
Journal of the American Dietetic AssociationObesity and the Built Environment
597 Citations2005Katie Booth, Megan M. Pinkston +1 more
Recommendations were made to use more direct methods of assessing the environment, which would include specific targeting of institutions thought to vary widely in relation to area characteristics and have a more influential effect on obesity-related behaviors.
RAND Corporation eBooksEarly Childhood Interventions: Proven Results, Future Promise
589 Citations2005Lynn A. Karoly, M. Rebecca Kilburn +1 more
This book presents a review and synthesis of current research that addresses the potential for various forms of early childhood intervene to improve outcomes for participating children and their families.
Psychological ScienceChildhood Poverty and Health
579 Citations2007Gary W. Evans, Pilyoung Kim
The effects of childhood poverty on stress dysregulation are largely explained by cumulative risk exposure accompanying childhood poverty.
Annals of the New York Academy of SciencesSocio‐economic differentials in peripheral biology: Cumulative allostatic load
578 Citations2010Teresa E. Seeman, Elissa S. Epel +3 more
Evidence linking socio‐economic status (SES) to “downstream” peripheral biology to multiple major biological regulatory systems over the life course is examined, followed by evidence of the resulting cumulative, overall burdens of physiological dysregulation seen among those of lower SES.
DemographyRefining the association between education and health: The effects of quantity, credential, and selectivity
561 Citations1999Catherine E. Ross, John Mirowsky
Of the three aspects of education, years of schooling has the largest effect on physical functioning and perceived health, and most of that association appears attributable to its correlation with work and economic conditions, social psychological resources, and health lifestyle.
Research on AgingEducation, Personal Control, Lifestyle and Health
517 Citations1998John Mirowsky, Catherine E. Ross
Annals of the New York Academy of SciencesMoney, schooling, and health: Mechanisms and causal evidence
472 Citations2010Ichiro Kawachi, Nancy E. Adler +1 more
The potential causal mechanisms linking schooling and income to health, and the twin challenges to causal inference in observational studies, in other words, reverse causation and omitted variable bias are reviewed.
Journal of Health and Social BehaviorSocioeconomic Position and Health: The Differential Effects of Education versus Income on the Onset versus Progression of Health Problems
403 Citations2007Pamela Herd, Brian Goesling +1 more
It is shown that education is more predictive than income of the onset of both functional limitations and chronic conditions, while income is more strongly associated than education with the progression of both.
Journal of Epidemiology & Community HealthIs the association between childhood socioeconomic circumstances and cause-specific mortality established? Update of a systematic review
376 Citations2008Bruna Galobardes, J Lynch +1 more
The new studies confirmed that mortality risk for all causes was higher among those who experienced poorer socioeconomic circumstances during childhood and show that this association persists among younger birth cohorts, despite temporal general improvements in childhood conditions across successive birth cohorts.
Occupational and Environmental MedicineWhen reciprocity fails: effort–reward imbalance in relation to coronary heart disease and health functioning within the Whitehall II study
360 Citations2002Hannah Kuper, Archana Singh‐Manoux +2 more
Within the Whitehall II study, a ratio of high efforts to rewards predicted higher risk of CHD and poor physical and mental health functioning during follow up, and the increased risk associated with ERI was relatively small and could be of considerable public health importance.
Psychosomatic MedicinePsychosocial Work Characteristics and Social Support as Predictors of SF-36 Health Functioning
342 Citations1998Stephen Stansfeld, Hans Bosma +2 more
Negative aspects of work (high demands and effort-reward imbalance) and negative aspects of close relationships are independent powerful predictors of poor health functioning.
American Journal of Preventive MedicineShould Health Studies Measure Wealth?
337 Citations2007Craig Evan Pollack, Sekai Chideya +4 more
In most studies, greater wealth was associated with better health, even after adjusting for other SES measures, and failure to measure wealth may result in under-estimating the contribution of SES to health, such as when studying the etiology of racial/ethnic disparities.
Journal of Personality and Social PsychologyDirect and moderating effects of community context on the psychological well-being of African American women.
321 Citations2000Carolyn E. Cutrona, Daniel W. Russell +3 more
Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent MedicineLiteracy and Child Health
314 Citations2009Lee Sanders, Steven G. Federico +3 more
Low caregiver literacy is common and is associated with poor preventive care behaviors and poor child health outcomes, and future research should aim to ameliorate literacy-associated child health disparities.
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric EpidemiologyExplaining social class differences in depression and well-being
301 Citations1997Stephen Stansfeld, Jenny Head +1 more
Despite a small contribution from social selective factors measured by upward mobility, the psychosocial work environment explained most of the cross-sectional socioeconomic status gradient in well-being and depression.
Journal of Epidemiology & Community HealthEffects of neighbourhood socioeconomic status and convenience store concentration on individual level smoking
296 Citations2005Ying C. Chuang, Catherine Cubbin +2 more
Lower neighbourhood SES and higher convenience store concentration, measured by density and distance, were both significantly associated with higher level of individual smoking after taking individual characteristics into account.
New England Journal of MedicineGradient of Disability across the Socioeconomic Spectrum in the United States
286 Citations2006Meredith Minkler, Esme Fuller‐Thomson +1 more
The findings suggest that functional limitation in Americans between the ages of 55 and 84 years is inversely related to social class across the full spectrum of the socioeconomic gradient.
European Heart JournalThe role of psychobiological pathways in socio-economic inequalities in cardiovascular disease risk
275 Citations2002Andrew Steptoe
The pathways through which social inequalities are translated into differential disease risk, highlighting the likely role of psychobiological processes are concerns, particularly with the pathways responsible for the gradient in ill health and coronary heart disease.
Social Science & MedicineSocial capital, socio-economic status and psychological distress among Australian adults
262 Citations2006Philayrath Phongsavan, Tien Chey +3 more
Having trust in people, feeling safe in the community and having social reciprocity are associated with lower risk of mental health distress, demonstrating the importance of examining the interrelationships between socio-economic status, social capital and mental health for community-dwelling adults.
Maternal and Child Health Journal“It’s The Skin You’re In”: African-American Women Talk About Their Experiences of Racism. An Exploratory Study to Develop Measures of Racism for Birth Outcome Studies
262 Citations2008Amani Nuru‐Jeter, Tyan Parker Dominguez +6 more
The racism experiences of childbearing African-American women are explored to inform subsequent development of improved measures for birth outcomes research, and support the need for measures reflecting the complexity of child bearing African- American women’s racism experiences.
Overtime and extended work shifts: recent findings on illnesses, injuries and health behaviors.
235 Citations2004
This report provides an integrative review of 52 recently published research reports that examine the associations between long working hours and illnesses, injuries, health behaviors, and performance.
American Journal of Preventive MedicineBroadening the FocusThe Need to Address the Social Determinants of Health
234 Citations2010Paula Braveman, Susan Egerter +1 more
Although recent reforms should help many Americans obtain and keep coverage, the costs of medical care and insurance remain out of reach for many households and will further strain public and private budgets.
Annals of the New York Academy of SciencesPreface to <i>The Biology of Disadvantage: Socioeconomic Status and Health</i>
191 Citations2010Nancy E. Adler, Judith Stewart
The scientific research presented in this volume captures where the field stands after 10 years of intense research by the MacArthur Network and others into the mechanisms of health disparities and illustrates the power of amultidisciplinary approach to complex social issues.
Maternal and Child Health JournalFamily Income Gradients in the Health and Health Care Access of US Children
187 Citations2009Kandyce Larson, Neal Halfon
American Journal of Public HealthEffect of Cross-Level Interaction Between Individual and Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status on Adult Mortality Rates
184 Citations2006Marilyn A. Winkleby, Catherine Cubbin +1 more
The disparities in mortality by neighborhood of residence among women and men of low SES demonstrate that they do not benefit from the higher quality of resources and knowledge generally associated with neighborhoods that have higher SES.
Journal of Marriage and the FamilyIncome Changes and Cognitive Stimulation in Young Children's Home Learning Environments
178 Citations2003Elizabeth Votruba‐Drzal
American Journal of Community PsychologySocial Distribution of Social Support: The Mediating Role of Life Events
178 Citations2003Kristin D. Mickelson, Laura D. Kubzansky
The results suggest the inability of lower SES individuals to mobilize social support in times of need may be explained by their more frequent experience of acute life events.
Milbank QuarterlyIs Income Inequality a Determinant of Population Health? Part 2. U.S. National and Regional Trends in Income Inequality and Age‐ and Cause‐Specific Mortality
173 Citations2004John Lynch, George Davey Smith +2 more
There is little congruence between national trends in income inequality and age- or cause-specific mortality except perhaps for suicide and homicide.
Social Science & MedicineCompared to whom? Subjective social status, self-rated health, and referent group sensitivity in a diverse US sample
162 Citations2010Lisa Wolff, S. V. Subramanian +3 more
Findings validate previous studies which typically have used a more distal referent such as others in American society in exploring the SSS-health relationship, but future work should explore whether this referent is salient to diverse population groups when making social comparisons.
Psychological MedicineSocial support and psychiatric sickness absence: a prospective study of British civil servants
162 Citations1997Stephen Stansfeld, G. S. RAEL +3 more
Positive aspects of close relationships may have an aetiological role in non-psychotic psychiatric disorder and social support at work appears to protect against short spells of psychiatric sickness absence.
Maternal and Child Health JournalPoverty, Near-Poverty, and Hardship Around the Time of Pregnancy
155 Citations2008Paula Braveman, Kristen S. Marchi +5 more
The high prevalence of low income and of serious hardships during pregnancy is of concern, given previous research documenting the adverse health consequences of these experiences and recognition of pregnancy as a critical period for health throughout the life course.
Annual Review of SociologySpace in the Study of Labor Markets
154 Citations2004Roberto M. Fernández, Celina Su
Annals of the New York Academy of SciencesEpidemiology of Socioeconomic Status and Health: Are Determinants Within Countries the Same as Between Countries?
145 Citations1999Michael Marmot
There is evidence to support the role of psychosocial factors in relating to socioeconomic differences within and between countries.
American Journal of Preventive MedicineWhen Do We Know Enough to Recommend Action on the Social Determinants of Health?
141 Citations2010Paula Braveman, Susan Egerter +2 more
The central thesis of the current paper is that the standards for evidence to guide social policies must be equally rigorous but also more comprehensive than those traditionally used to inform clinical interventions, because social policiesmust deal with upstream factors that affect health through complex causal pathways over potentially long time periods.
Social Science & MedicineThe effects of racial density and income incongruity on pregnancy outcomes
130 Citations2004Kate E. Pickett, James W. Collins +2 more
It is shown that living in a better area reduces the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes but, among African-American women, living in an area in which they are in a racial minority may increase the risk, suggesting that the positive effects of a better socioeconomic context may be countered for minority women by the adverse effects of racism or racial stigma.
The Future of ChildrenU.S. Elementary and Secondary Schools: Equalizing Opportunity or Replicating the Status Quo?
121 Citations2006Cecilia Elena Rouse, Lisa Barrow
Why family background is so strongly linked to education is investigated, and it is shown that family socioeconomic status affects such educational outcomes as test scores, grade retention, and high school graduation, and that educational attainment strongly affects adult earnings.
Journal of Health PsychologyControl Constructs: Do They Mediate the Relation between Educational Attainment and Health Behaviour?
111 Citations2003Anette Leganger, Pål Kraft
The results showed that women with higher education had higher intentions to consume fruit/vegetables and consumed fruit/ vegetables more frequently and these control beliefs partly mediated the education–intention/behaviour relationship.
International Journal of EpidemiologyAccumulated labour market disadvantage and limiting long-term illness: data from the 1971-1991 Office for National Statistics' Longitudinal Study
109 Citations2002Mel Bartley
The experiences of disadvantaged social class or unemployment at any time during this period contributed independently to an increased risk of chronic limiting illness up to 20 years later in the life course.
StrokeStroke Disparities in Older Americans
103 Citations2008Mauricio Avendaño, M. Maria Glymour
Wealth and income are independent predictors of stroke at ages 50 to 64 but do not predict stroke among the elderly, which might reflect buffering of the negative effect of low socioeconomic status by improved access to social and health care programs at old ages.
Health AffairsJob-Based Health Benefits In 2002: Some Important Trends
88 Citations2002Jon R. Gabel, Larry Levitt +6 more
The cost of health insurance rose 12.7 percent in 2002, the highest rate of growth since 1990, and employers adopted formularies and three-tier cost-sharing formulas to control prescription drug expenses.
International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical ActivityAssociations between the built environment and physical activity in public housing residents
81 Citations2007Katie M. Heinrich, Rebecca E. Lee +7 more
Results indicate that the physical activity of low-income residents of public housing is related to modifiable aspects of the built environment, and individuals with greater access to more physical activity resources with few incivilities, as well as, greater street connectivity, are more likely to be physically active.
Medical Entomology and ZoologyThe biology of disadvantage : socioeconomic status and health
74 Citations2010Nancy E. Adler, Judith Stewart
…