IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v63y2006i4p1011-1022.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Social Environment and Physical activity: A review of concepts and evidence

Author

Listed:
  • McNeill, Lorna Haughton
  • Kreuter, Matthew W.
  • Subramanian, S.V.

Abstract

The rapidly growing and evolving literature on the social environment and its influence on health outcomes currently lacks a clear taxonomy of dimensions of the social environment and the differing mechanisms through which each influences health-related behavior. This paper identifies five dimensions of the social environment--social support and social networks, socioeconomic position and income inequality, racial discrimination, social cohesion and social capital, and neighborhood factors--and considers each in the context of physical activity to illustrate important differences between them. Increasing the specificity of terminology and methods in social environmental research on health will enable more systematic inquiry and accelerate the rate of scientific discovery in this important area.

Suggested Citation

  • McNeill, Lorna Haughton & Kreuter, Matthew W. & Subramanian, S.V., 2006. "Social Environment and Physical activity: A review of concepts and evidence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(4), pages 1011-1022, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:63:y:2006:i:4:p:1011-1022
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277-9536(06)00146-8
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    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. Lynch, J. W. & Kaplan, G. A. & Salonen, J. T., 1997. "Why do poor people behave poorly? Variation in adult health behaviours and psychosocial characteristics by stages of the socioeconomic lifecourse," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 44(6), pages 809-819, March.
    2. Williams, D.R. & Neighbors, H.W. & Jackson, J.S., 2003. "Racial/ethnic discrimination and health: Findings from community studies," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(2), pages 200-208.
    3. Shortt, S. E. D., 2004. "Making sense of social capital, health and policy," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 11-22, October.
    4. Saelens, B.E. & Sallis, J.F. & Black, J.B. & Chen, D., 2003. "Neighborhood-Based Differences in Physical Activity: An Environment Scale Evaluation," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(9), pages 1552-1558.
    5. James, S.A., 2003. "Confronting the moral economy of US racial/ethnic health disparities," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(2), pages 189-189.
    6. Cohen, D. & Spear, S. & Scribner, R. & Kissinger, P. & Mason, K. & Wildgen, J., 2000. "'Broken windows' and the risk of gonorrhea," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 90(2), pages 230-236.
    7. Geronimus, A.T., 2000. "To mitigate, resist, or undo: Addressing structural influences on the health of urban populations," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 90(6), pages 867-872.
    8. Schmid, T.L. & Pratt, M. & Howze, E., 1995. "Policy as intervention: environmental and policy approaches to the prevention of cardiovascular disease," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 85(9), pages 1207-1211.
    9. Gee, G.C., 2002. "A multilevel analysis of the relationship between institutional and individual racial discrimination and health status," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 92(4), pages 615-623.
    10. Karlsen, S. & Nazroo, J.Y., 2002. "Relation between racial discrimination, social class, and health among ethnic minority groups," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 92(4), pages 624-631.
    11. Ross, Catherine E., 2000. "Walking, exercising, and smoking: does neighborhood matter?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 265-274, July.
    12. Cattell, Vicky, 2001. "Poor people, poor places, and poor health: the mediating role of social networks and social capital," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 52(10), pages 1501-1516, May.
    13. Diez Roux, A.V., 2001. "Investigating neighborhood and area effects on health," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 91(11), pages 1783-1789.
    14. Nazroo, J.Y., 2003. "The structuring of ethnic inequalities in health: Economic position, racial discrimination, and racism," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(2), pages 277-284.
    15. Macintyre, Sally & Ellaway, Anne & Cummins, Steven, 2002. "Place effects on health: how can we conceptualise, operationalise and measure them?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 125-139, July.
    16. Lindström, Martin & Hanson, Bertil S. & Östergren, Per-Olof, 2001. "Socioeconomic differences in leisure-time physical activity: the role of social participation and social capital in shaping health related behaviour," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 441-451, February.
    17. Ståhl, T. & Rütten, A. & Nutbeam, D. & Bauman, A. & Kannas, L. & Abel, T. & Lüschen, G. & Rodriquez, Diaz J. A. & Vinck, J. & van der Zee, J., 2001. "The importance of the social environment for physically active lifestyle -- results from an international study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 1-10, January.
    18. Hawe, Penelope & Shiell, Alan, 2000. "Social capital and health promotion: a review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 51(6), pages 871-885, September.
    19. King, Gary, 1997. "The "race" concept in smoking: A review of the research on African Americans," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 45(7), pages 1075-1087, October.
    20. Edmondson, Ricca, 2003. "Social capital: a strategy for enhancing health?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 57(9), pages 1723-1733, November.
    21. Kennedy, Bruce P. & Kawachi, Ichiro & Prothrow-Stith, Deborah & Lochner, Kimberly & Gupta, Vanita, 1998. "Social capital, income inequality, and firearm violent crime," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 7-17, July.
    22. Giles-Corti, B. & Donovan, R.J., 2003. "Relative Influences of Individual, Social Environmental, and Physical Environmental Correlates of Walking," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(9), pages 1583-1589.
    23. Eyler, Amy A. & Brownson, Ross C. & Donatelle, Rebecca J. & King, Abby C. & Brown, David & Sallis, James F., 1999. "Physical activity social support and middle- and older-aged minority women: results from a US survey," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 49(6), pages 781-789, September.
    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. Franzini, Luisa & Caughy, Margaret & Spears, William & Eugenia Fernandez Esquer, Maria, 2005. "Neighborhood economic conditions, social processes, and self-rated health in low-income neighborhoods in Texas: A multilevel latent variables model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(6), pages 1135-1150, September.
    2. Ming Wen & Christopher R. Browning & Kathleen A. Cagney, 2007. "Neighbourhood Deprivation, Social Capital and Regular Exercise during Adulthood: A Multilevel Study in Chicago," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 44(13), pages 2651-2671, December.
    3. Shortt, S. E. D., 2004. "Making sense of social capital, health and policy," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 11-22, October.
    4. Wen, Ming & Hawkley, Louise C. & Cacioppo, John T., 2006. "Objective and perceived neighborhood environment, individual SES and psychosocial factors, and self-rated health: An analysis of older adults in Cook County, Illinois," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(10), pages 2575-2590, November.
    5. Harris, Ricci & Tobias, Martin & Jeffreys, Mona & Waldegrave, Kiri & Karlsen, Saffron & Nazroo, James, 2006. "Racism and health: The relationship between experience of racial discrimination and health in New Zealand," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(6), pages 1428-1441, September.
    6. Johnston, David W. & Lordan, Grace, 2012. "Discrimination makes me sick! An examination of the discrimination–health relationship," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 99-111.
    7. De Clercq, B. & Vyncke, V. & Hublet, A. & Elgar, F.J. & Ravens-Sieberer, U. & Currie, C. & Hooghe, M. & Ieven, A. & Maes, L., 2012. "Social capital and social inequality in adolescents’ health in 601 Flemish communities: A multilevel analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 202-210.
    8. Gee, Gilbert C. & Spencer, Michael & Chen, Juan & Yip, Tiffany & Takeuchi, David T., 2007. "The association between self-reported racial discrimination and 12-month DSM-IV mental disorders among Asian Americans nationwide," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(10), pages 1984-1996, May.
    9. Stephens, Christine, 2008. "Social capital in its place: Using social theory to understand social capital and inequalities in health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(5), pages 1174-1184, March.
    10. Almedom, Astier M., 2005. "Social capital and mental health: An interdisciplinary review of primary evidence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(5), pages 943-964, September.
    11. Virtanen, Marianna & Kivimäki, Mika & Kouvonen, Anne & Elovainio, Marko & Linna, Anne & Oksanen, Tuula & Vahtera, Jussi, 2007. "Average household income, crime, and smoking behaviour in a local area: The Finnish 10-Town study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(9), pages 1904-1913, May.
    12. Jennifer M. Mellor & Jeffrey Milyo, 2003. "State Social Capital and Individual Health Status," Working Papers 0310, Harris School of Public Policy Studies, University of Chicago.
    13. Walker, Ruth B. & Hiller, Janet E., 2007. "Places and health: A qualitative study to explore how older women living alone perceive the social and physical dimensions of their neighbourhoods," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(6), pages 1154-1165, September.
    14. Bell, Janice F. & Zimmerman, Frederick J. & Almgren, Gunnar R. & Mayer, Jonathan D. & Huebner, Colleen E., 2006. "Birth outcomes among urban African-American women: A multilevel analysis of the role of racial residential segregation," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(12), pages 3030-3045, December.
    15. Benzeval, Michaela & Reichl Luthra, Renee & Nandi, Alita, 2016. "Ethnic and racial harassment and mental health: identifying sources of resilience," ISER Working Paper Series 2016-14, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    16. Hong, Seunghye & Zhang, Wei & Walton, Emily, 2014. "Neighborhoods and mental health: Exploring ethnic density, poverty, and social cohesion among Asian Americans and Latinos," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 117-124.
    17. Borrell, Luisa N. & Kiefe, Catarina I. & Williams, David R. & Diez-Roux, Ana V. & Gordon-Larsen, Penny, 2006. "Self-reported health, perceived racial discrimination, and skin color in African Americans in the CARDIA study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(6), pages 1415-1427, September.
    18. Hutchinson, Rebbeca N. & Putt, Mary A. & Dean, Lorraine T. & Long, Judith A. & Montagnet, Chantal A. & Armstrong, Katrina, 2009. "Neighborhood racial composition, social capital and black all-cause mortality in Philadelphia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(10), pages 1859-1865, May.
    19. Maria Holst Algren & Carsten Kronborg Bak & Gabriele Berg-Beckhoff & Pernille Tanggaard Andersen, 2015. "Health-Risk Behaviour in Deprived Neighbourhoods Compared with Non-Deprived Neighbourhoods: A Systematic Literature Review of Quantitative Observational Studies," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(10), pages 1-17, October.
    20. Poortinga, Wouter, 2006. "Perceptions of the environment, physical activity, and obesity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(11), pages 2835-2846, December.

    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:63:y:2006:i:4:p:1011-1022. 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.