10/29/2023 0 Comments Debra schwartz keller williams reviewsSocial isolation, the relative absence of social integration, may be a particularly important predictor of adverse health outcomes ( Bearman & Moody 2004, Brummett et al. Social integration refers to the existence and quantity of particular ties and, sometimes, to frequency of contact with those ties ( House et al. Structural aspects are reflected in measures of social integration and social networks, whereas positive and negative content is reflected in measures of social support and stress. Moreover, given the emphasis of the life course perspective on how individual lives are embedded in larger contexts, such a framework is useful for thinking about how the link between social ties and health behavior contributes to demographic disparities in health, although that particular topic is beyond the scope of this review.īroadly speaking, social ties are typically considered in terms of structure and content. A life course framework, therefore, can suggest why, when, and how particular social ties affect health behaviors similarly and differently across and within stages of life. Health behaviors over the life course explain a great deal of the health heterogeneity and change that we see at any given age ( Kaplan 1991). Furthermore, individuals can recover from health problems and experience improved health at any age ( Taylor et al. Many people advance to old age in good health, while others experience substantial disability and morbidity in early middle age or younger ( House et al. Health does not inevitably and irrevocably decline with age. Understanding this unfolding process is an essential step toward explaining how social ties ultimately influence health. In this spirit, our review suggests that social ties and health behavior unfold in tandem over the entire life course. A central image of this perspective is of developmental trajectories (e.g., health) and social convoys (e.g., relationships) intertwining over long periods to make up the individual life course ( Elder et al. We use a life course perspective to integrate these themes. In providing such a review, we attempt ( a) to develop a conceptual model integrating disparate literatures into one coherent framework ( b) to identify psychosocial processes through which social ties affect health behavior, for better and for worse and ( c) to suggest directions for future research in this theoretically important and policy-relevant area of sociology.Ī CONCEPTUAL FRAME FOR RESEARCH ON SOCIAL TIES AND HEALTH BEHAVIORĮvidence on social ties and health habits comes from across disciplines and study populations, yet a number of common themes emerge from this work. Thus, a review of the health behavioral implications of social ties, broadly defined beyond the benefits of social integration, is needed. Such counterbalancing of positive and negative effects has likely resulted in an underestimation of the overall impact of social ties on health behavior. Although the basic assumption of this research is that social ties promote healthy behavior and deter risky behavior, ample evidence shows that social ties can also lead to risky health behavior ( Christakis & Fowler 2007, Taylor & Repetti 1997). Over the past three decades, many studies have provided evidence that social ties influence health behavior across the life course ( Berkman & Breslow 1983, Resnick et al. In focusing on social foundations of health behavior, we adhere to classic traditions in sociology dating back to Durkheim’s (1897) work linking higher levels of social integration to lower suicide rates. The importance of health behavior for overall health is undisputed, as health behavior explains almost half of the deaths in the United States annually ( McGinnis et al. Some behaviors, such as exercise, eating well, and adherence to medical regimens, tend to promote health and prevent illness, whereas others, such as smoking, excessive weight gain, and substance abuse, can undermine health. In the broadest terms, health behavior refers to a range of personal actions that influence health, disability, and mortality. government’s planning statement for improving the health of Americans ( U.S. Indeed, the importance of understanding how social ties affect health behavior is highlighted in Healthy People 2010, the U.S. Yet health behavior remains something of a black box in these models, a black box that now needs to be thoroughly unpacked. Across disciplines, health behavior occupies a pivotal position in theoretical models that seek to explain when and how social ties affect health (e.g., House et al. (1988) made this claim, the link between social ties and health has become a veritable social fact, with an explosion of research and theory aimed at identifying the underlying mechanisms.
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