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Measuring health lifestyles in a comparative analysis: Theoretical issues and empirical findings

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  • Abel, Thomas

Abstract

The concept of lifestyle bears great potential for research in medical sociology. Yet, weaknesses in current methods have restrained lifestyle research from realizing its full potentials. The present focus is on the links between theoretical conceptions and their empirical application. The paper divides into two parts. The first part provides a discussion of basic theoretical and methodological issues. In particular selected lines of thought from Max Weber are presented and their usefulness in providing a theoretical frame of reference for health lifestyle research is outlined. Next, a theory guided definition of the subject matter is introduced and basic problems in empirical applications of theoretical lifestyle concepts are discussed. In its second part the paper presents findings from comparative lifestyle analyses. Data from the U.S. and West Germany are utilized to explore issues of measurement equ validity. Factor analyses indicate high conceptual equivalence for new measures of health lifestyle dimensions in both the U.S. and West Germany. Divisive cluster analyses detect three distinct lifestyle groups in both nations. Implications for future lifestyle research are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Abel, Thomas, 1991. "Measuring health lifestyles in a comparative analysis: Theoretical issues and empirical findings," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 899-908, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:32:y:1991:i:8:p:899-908
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Thomas Abel & Esther Walter & Steffen Niemann & Rolf Weitkunat, 1999. "The Berne-Munich Lifestyle Panel," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 44(3), pages 91-106, May.
    2. Purnima Awasthi & Ramesh C. Mishra & S. K. Singh, 2018. "Health-promoting Lifestyle, Illness Control Beliefs and Well-being of the Obese Diabetic Women," Psychology and Developing Societies, , vol. 30(2), pages 175-198, September.
    3. Stefanie Mollborn & Elizabeth Lawrence & Patrick M. Krueger, 2021. "Developing Health Lifestyle Pathways and Social Inequalities Across Early Childhood," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 40(5), pages 1085-1117, October.
    4. Lawrence, Elizabeth M. & Mollborn, Stefanie & Hummer, Robert A., 2017. "Health lifestyles across the transition to adulthood: Implications for health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 23-32.
    5. Mollborn, Stefanie & Lawrence, Elizabeth M. & Hummer, Robert A., 2020. "A gender framework for understanding health lifestyles," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    6. Raphael Schilling & Milena Pavlova & Andrea Karaman, 2023. "Consumer Preferences for Health Services Offered by Health Insurance Companies in Germany," Risks, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-27, December.
    7. Pieniak, Zuzanna & Verbeke, Wim & Olsen, Svein Ottar & Hansen, Karina Birch & Brunsø, Karen, 2010. "Health-related attitudes as a basis for segmenting European fish consumers," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 448-455, October.
    8. Mikko Laaksonen & Eero Lahelma & Ritva Prättälä, 2002. "Associations among health-related behaviours: Sociodemographic variation in Finland," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 47(4), pages 225-232, July.
    9. Ruttana Phetsitong & Patama Vapattanawong & Malee Sunpuwan & Marc Völker, 2019. "State of household need for caregivers and determinants of psychological burden among caregivers of older people in Thailand: An analysis from national surveys on older persons," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(12), pages 1-18, December.
    10. Xuanping Zhang & Sean-Shong Hwang, 2007. "The micro consequences of macro-level social transition: how did Russians survive in the 1990s?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 82(2), pages 337-360, June.
    11. Abel, Thomas & Frohlich, Katherine L., 2012. "Capitals and capabilities: Linking structure and agency to reduce health inequalities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 236-244.
    12. Valeria Glorioso & Maurizio Pisati, 2014. "Socioeconomic inequality in health-related behaviors: a lifestyle approach," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 48(5), pages 2859-2879, September.
    13. Rütten, Alfred & Gelius, Peter, 2011. "The interplay of structure and agency in health promotion: Integrating a concept of structural change and the policy dimension into a multi-level model and applying it to health promotion principles a," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(7), pages 953-959.
    14. Marc Luy & Paola Di Giulio, 2006. "The impact of health behaviors and life quality on gender differences in mortality," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2006-035, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.

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