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The importance of psychosocial stressors for socio-economic inequalities in perceived health

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  • Stronks, Karien
  • van de Mheen, H.
  • Looman, Caspar W. N.
  • Mackenbach, Johan P.

Abstract

The uneven distribution of psychosocial stressors as well as their differential health impact have been suggested as a possible explanation for socio-economic inequalities in health. We assessed the importance of both explanations, using data from the baseline of a Dutch longitudinal study. The outcome measure was the prevalence of perceived health problems. Educational level was used as an indicator of socio-economic status, whilst both life-events and long-term difficulties were included as stressors. We controlled for educational differences in neuroticism in order to eliminate any bias which might arise from the fact that people in lower educational groups are more inclined to report both stressors and health problems. The higher exposure to stressors was found to contribute to the increased risk of perceived health problems, even after differences in neuroticism were taken into account. Long-term difficulties, especially those related to material conditions, account for most of the effect. The impact of stress on health was hardly found to be moderated by educational level. The implications for future research are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Stronks, Karien & van de Mheen, H. & Looman, Caspar W. N. & Mackenbach, Johan P., 0. "The importance of psychosocial stressors for socio-economic inequalities in perceived health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 46(4-5), pages 611-623, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:46:y::i:4-5:p:611-623
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Lars Thiel, 2016. "Caring Alone? Social Capital and the Mental Health of Caregivers," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 860, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    2. Christiaan Monden & Gerbert Kraaykamp, 2006. "Neuroticism, Education and Self-Assessed Health in the General Population of the United States. Can Smoking Behaviour Explain the Associations?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 78(2), pages 271-285, September.
    3. Koster, Annemarie & Bosma, Hans & van Lenthe, Frank J. & Kempen, Gertrudis I.J.M. & Mackenbach, Johan P. & van Eijk, Jacques Th.M., 2005. "The role of psychosocial factors in explaining socio-economic differences in mobility decline in a chronically ill population: results from the GLOBE study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 123-132, July.
    4. Mandemakers, Jornt J. & Monden, Christiaan W.S., 2010. "Does education buffer the impact of disability on psychological distress?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 288-297, July.
    5. van der Waerden, Judith E.B. & Hoefnagels, Cees & Hosman, Clemens M.H. & Souren, Pierre M. & Jansen, Maria W.J., 2013. "A randomized controlled trial of combined exercise and psycho-education for low-SES women: Short- and long-term outcomes in the reduction of stress and depressive symptoms," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 84-93.
    6. Steven Prus, 2007. "Age, SES, and Health: A Population Level Analysis of Health Inequalities over the Life Course," Social and Economic Dimensions of an Aging Population Research Papers 181, McMaster University.
    7. Sperlich, Stefanie & Geyer, Siegfried, 2015. "The mediating effect of effort-reward imbalance in household and family work on the relationship between education and women's health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 58-65.
    8. Terje A Eikemo & Rasmus Hoffmann & Margarete C Kulik & Ivana Kulhánová & Marlen Toch-Marquardt & Gwenn Menvielle & Caspar Looman & Domantas Jasilionis & Pekka Martikainen & Olle Lundberg & Johan P Mac, 2014. "How Can Inequalities in Mortality Be Reduced? A Quantitative Analysis of 6 Risk Factors in 21 European Populations," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(11), pages 1-1, November.
    9. Stefanie Sperlich & Sonja Arnhold-Kerri & Siegfried Geyer, 2011. "What accounts for depressive symptoms among mothers? The impact of socioeconomic status, family structure and psychosocial stress," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 56(4), pages 385-396, August.
    10. Ferlander, Sara & Mäkinen, Ilkka Henrik, 2009. "Social capital, gender and self-rated health. Evidence from the Moscow Health Survey 2004," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(9), pages 1323-1332, November.
    11. Simone Weyers & Nico Dragano & Susanne Möbus & Eva-Maria Beck & Andreas Stang & Stephan Möhlenkamp & Karl Jöckel & Raimund Erbel & Johannes Siegrist, 2010. "Poor social relations and adverse health behaviour: stronger associations in low socioeconomic groups?," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 55(1), pages 17-23, February.
    12. Gebreab, Samson Y. & Diez-Roux, Ana V. & Hickson, DeMarc A. & Boykin, Shawn & Sims, Mario & Sarpong, Daniel F. & Taylor, Herman A. & Wyatt, Sharon B., 2012. "The contribution of stress to the social patterning of clinical and subclinical CVD risk factors in African Americans: The Jackson Heart Study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(9), pages 1697-1707.

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