IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v352y2024ics0277953624004489.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Health-related social control among U.S. adults ages 30–80: Associations with alcohol use over four years

Author

Listed:
  • Tucker, Joan S.
  • Rodriguez, Anthony
  • Green, Harold D.
  • Seelam, Rachana
  • Henshel, Beate
  • Pollard, Michael S.

Abstract

Health-related social control (HRSC) includes efforts to regulate or influence others' health behaviors and is an important way interpersonal relationships can affect individual-level health. This study used egocentric network data to describe the size and composition of HRSC networks, identify trajectories of HRSC receipt, and examine how HRSC is related to binge drinking and alcohol-related problems. Data come from a U.S. nationally representative sample of 1235 adults age 30 and older (baseline mean age = 52, 52% female, 64% White) who completed four annual surveys between 2019 and 2022. On average, 30% of adults' network members were HRSC agents who told or reminded them to do things to protect their health. At baseline, 50% of respondents identified a spouse/partner as a HRSC agent, 56% a relative, 46% a friend, and 12% someone else. Respondents' relationships with HRSC agents were generally strong, 93% of agents were described as people “whose opinion matters,” and only 10% were described as hassling or making life difficult for the respondent. Growth mixture modeling identified five trajectories of HRSC receipt over the four-year period: Stable High (36% of sample), Stable Moderate (47%), Stable Low (14%), Decreasing (2%), and Increasing (2%). Binge drinking was relatively consistent for the three Stable HRSC classes (ranging from 11% to 15% of individuals), decreased steadily for the Increasing HRSC class (32%–16%), and fluctuated for the Decreasing HRSC class (decreasing from 10% to 2%, then increasing to 8%). For alcohol problems, the Increasing HRSC class showed the largest increase (2%–21%) before dropping to near-baseline levels (4%), whereas the Decreasing HRSC class fluctuated during the first three waves followed by no individuals reporting alcohol problems at the last wave. Results highlight the importance of examining heterogeneity in adults’ HRSC experiences because of its implications for understanding social influences on health-related behaviors.

Suggested Citation

  • Tucker, Joan S. & Rodriguez, Anthony & Green, Harold D. & Seelam, Rachana & Henshel, Beate & Pollard, Michael S., 2024. "Health-related social control among U.S. adults ages 30–80: Associations with alcohol use over four years," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 352(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:352:y:2024:i:c:s0277953624004489
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953624004489
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117004?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Joan S. Tucker & David J. Klein & Marc N. Elliott, 2004. "Social Control of Health Behaviors: A Comparison of Young, Middle-Aged, and Older Adults," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 59(4), pages 147-150.
    2. Joan S. Tucker, 2002. "Health-Related Social Control Within Older Adults' Relationships," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 57(5), pages 387-395.
    3. Umberson, Debra, 1992. "Gender, marital status and the social control of health behavior," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 34(8), pages 907-917, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Missinne, Sarah & Colman, Elien & Bracke, Piet, 2013. "Spousal influence on mammography screening: A life course perspective," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 63-70.
    2. Jiaan Zhang & Liyun Wu, 2015. "Cigarette Smoking and Alcohol Consumption among Chinese Older Adults: Do Living Arrangements Matter?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-26, February.
    3. August, Kristin J. & Sorkin, Dara H., 2010. "Marital status and gender differences in managing a chronic illness: The function of health-related social control," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(10), pages 1831-1838, November.
    4. Marta Pittavino & Bruno Arpino & Elena Pirani, 2024. "Kinlessness at older ages: Prevalence and heterogeneity in 27 countries," Econometrics Working Papers Archive 2024_02, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti".
    5. Bruno Arpino & Valeria Bordone & Giorgio Di Gessa, 2022. "Close kin influence COVID-19 precautionary behaviors and vaccine acceptance of older individuals," Econometrics Working Papers Archive 2022_02, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti".
    6. Molly A. Martin & Margaret Gough Courtney & Adam M. Lippert, 2022. "The Risks and Consequences of Skipping Meals for Low-Income Mothers," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(6), pages 2613-2644, December.
    7. Borau, Sylvie & Couprie, Hélène & Hopfensitz, Astrid, 2022. "The prosociality of married people: Evidence from a large multinational sample," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    8. Lindsay C. Kobayashi & Sarah Frank & Carlos Riumallo-Herl & David Canning & Lisa Berkman, 2019. "Socioeconomic gradients in chronic disease risk behaviors in a population-based study of older adults in rural South Africa," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 64(1), pages 135-145, January.
    9. Ribar, David C., 2004. "What Do Social Scientists Know About the Benefits of Marriage? A Review of Quantitative Methodologies," IZA Discussion Papers 998, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Rong Fu & Haruko Noguchi, 2018. "Does the positive relationship between health and marriage reflect protection or selection? Evidence from middle-aged and elderly Japanese," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 1003-1016, December.
    11. Jolidon, Vladimir, 2022. "Gender inequality and mammography screening: Does living with a partner improve women's mammography uptake?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    12. Wilson, Sven E., 2012. "Marriage, gender and obesity in later life," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 431-453.
    13. Hung-Lin Tao, 2019. "Marriage and Happiness: Evidence from Taiwan," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(6), pages 1843-1861, August.
    14. Damien Bricard & Stéphane Legleye & Myriam Khlat, 2017. "Changes in Smoking Behavior over Family Transitions: Evidence for Anticipation and Adaptation Effects," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-10, June.
    15. Kieron Barclay & Martin Kolk, 2019. "Parity and Mortality: An Examination of Different Explanatory Mechanisms Using Data on Biological and Adoptive Parents," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 35(1), pages 63-85, February.
    16. Molloy, Gerard John & Stamatakis, Emmanuel & Randall, Gemma & Hamer, Mark, 2009. "Marital status, gender and cardiovascular mortality: Behavioural, psychological distress and metabolic explanations," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 223-228, July.
    17. Li, Qin & Smith, James P. & Zhao, Yaohui, 2023. "Understanding the effects of widowhood on health in China: Mechanisms and heterogeneity," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 25(C).
    18. Woojin Chung & Roeul Kim, 2014. "Does Marriage Really Matter to Health? Intra- and Inter-Country Evidence from China, Japan, Taiwan, and the Republic of Korea," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(8), pages 1-10, August.
    19. Justin T. Denney & Richard G. Rogers & Patrick M. Krueger & Tim Wadsworth, 2009. "Adult Suicide Mortality in the United States: Marital Status, Family Size, Socioeconomic Status, and Differences by Sex," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 90(5), pages 1167-1185, December.
    20. Miika Mäki & Anna E. Hägglund & Anna Rotkirch & Sangita Kulathinal & Mikko Myrskylä, 2022. "Stable marital histories predict happiness and health across educational groups," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2022-035, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:352:y:2024:i:c:s0277953624004489. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.