IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v65y2007i5p958-975.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The role of social support and integration for understanding socioeconomic disparities in self-rated health and hypertension

Author

Listed:
  • Gorman, Bridget K.
  • Sivaganesan, Ahilan

Abstract

This paper examines socioeconomic (socioeconomic status, SES) disparities in self-rated health and hypertension among 29,816 US adults aged 25 and older using data from the 2001 wave of the National Health Interview Survey. Our purpose is to examine how influential measures of social support and social integration are for each health outcome, and whether support and integration operate by mediating, or buffering, the effects of SES on health. Multivariate regression models show no significant influence of emotional support, but do indicate that many aspects of social integration are directly associated with self-rated health and hypertension, although these measures do not mediate the relationship between SES and health. However, interaction tests show substantial evidence that measures of social integration buffer some of the negative effects of low SES, particularly the negative influence of not working on self-rated health. In addition, findings indicate potential evidence of help-seeking behavior among adults who did not finish high school or who report financial barriers to medical care. Overall, our findings suggest that social programs designed to foster social integration (e.g., free or low-cost bus fare to promote visits with friends and family) may improve health among persons with low levels of education, who are not working, or who have problems accessing medical care because of financial problems.

Suggested Citation

  • Gorman, Bridget K. & Sivaganesan, Ahilan, 2007. "The role of social support and integration for understanding socioeconomic disparities in self-rated health and hypertension," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(5), pages 958-975, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:65:y:2007:i:5:p:958-975
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277-9536(07)00207-9
    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. Zunzunegui, M. V. & Koné, A. & Johri, M. & Béland, F. & Wolfson, C. & Bergman, H., 2004. "Social networks and self-rated health in two French-speaking Canadian community dwelling populations over 65," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 58(10), pages 2069-2081, May.
    2. Franks, Peter & Gold, Marthe R. & Fiscella, Kevin, 2003. "Sociodemographics, self-rated health, and mortality in the US," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 56(12), pages 2505-2514, June.
    3. Laaksonen, M. & Rahkonen, O. & Martikainen, P. & Lahelma, E., 2005. "Socioeconomic position and self-rated health: The contribution of childhood socioeconomic circumstances, adult socioeconomic status, and material resources," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 95(8), pages 1403-1409.
    4. Veenstra, Gerry, 2000. "Social capital, SES and health: an individual-level analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 50(5), pages 619-629, March.
    5. Knox, Sarah S. & Theorell, Töres & Svensson, Jan Ch. & Waller, Dick, 1985. "The relation of social support and working environment to medical variables associated with elevated blood pressure in young males: A structural model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 21(5), pages 525-531, January.
    6. Bailis, Daniel S. & Segall, Alexander & Mahon, Michael J. & Chipperfield, Judith G. & Dunn, Elaine M., 2001. "Perceived control in relation to socioeconomic and behavioral resources for health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 52(11), pages 1661-1676, June.
    7. Colin Bell, A. & Adair, Linda S. & Popkin, Barry M., 2004. "Understanding the role of mediating risk factors and proxy effects in the association between socio-economic status and untreated hypertension," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 59(2), pages 275-283, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jens Klein & Nico Vonneilich & Sebastian Baumeister & Thomas Kohlmann & Olaf Knesebeck, 2012. "Do social relations explain health inequalities? Evidence from a longitudinal survey in a changing eastern German region," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 57(3), pages 619-627, June.
    2. 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.
    3. Zhang, Wei & Ta, Van M., 2009. "Social connections, immigration-related factors, and self-rated physical and mental health among Asian Americans," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(12), pages 2104-2112, June.
    4. Vincens, Natalia & Emmelin, Maria & Stafström, Martin, 2018. "Social capital, income inequality and the social gradient in self-rated health in Latin America: A fixed effects analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 115-122.
    5. Bridget Gorman & Justin Denney & Hilary Dowdy & Rose Medeiros, 2015. "A New Piece of the Puzzle: Sexual Orientation, Gender, and Physical Health Status," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(4), pages 1357-1382, August.
    6. Zhengtao Li & Henk Folmer & Jianhong Xue, 2016. "Perception of Air Pollution in the Jinchuan Mining Area, China: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-18, July.
    7. Bridget Gorman & Jeremy Porter, 2011. "Social Networks and Support, Gender, and Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Hypertension Among Older Adults," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 30(6), pages 885-911, December.
    8. Danya Lagos, 2018. "Looking at Population Health Beyond “Male” and “Female”: Implications of Transgender Identity and Gender Nonconformity for Population Health," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(6), pages 2097-2117, December.
    9. Gang Li & Huanhuan Hu & Zhong Dong & Takashi Arao, 2013. "Development of the Chinese Family Support Scale in a Sample of Chinese Patients with Hypertension," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(12), pages 1-1, December.
    10. Ming Wen & Danan Gu, 2011. "The Effects of Childhood, Adult, and Community Socioeconomic Conditions on Health and Mortality among Older Adults in China," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 48(1), pages 153-181, February.
    11. Vonneilich, Nico & Lüdecke, Daniel & von dem Knesebeck, Olaf, 2020. "Educational inequalities in self-rated health and social relationships – analyses based on the European Social Survey 2002-2016," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 267(C).

    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. Furnée, Carina A. & Pfann, Gerard A., 2010. "Individual vulnerability and the nurturing state: The case of self-reported health and relative income," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 125-133, July.
    2. Yamamura, Eiji, 2011. "Different effects of social capital on health status among residents: Evidence from modern Japan," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 40(5), pages 475-479.
    3. Damiano Fiorillo & Giuseppe Lubrano Lavadera & Nunzia Nappo, 2020. "Individual Heterogeneity in the Association Between Social Participation and Self-rated Health: A Panel Study on BHPS," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 151(2), pages 645-667, September.
    4. Robert Weech-Maldonado & Michael J. Miller & Justin C. Lord, 2017. "The Relationships among Socio-Demographics, Perceived Health, and Happiness," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 12(2), pages 289-302, June.
    5. Mäkinen, Tomi & Laaksonen, Mikko & Lahelma, Eero & Rahkonen, Ossi, 2006. "Associations of childhood circumstances with physical and mental functioning in adulthood," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(8), pages 1831-1839, April.
    6. Xiaojie Cao & Siduo Ji, 2024. "Bidirectional relationship between self-rated health and the big five personality traits among Chinese adolescents: a two-wave cross-lagged study," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-11, December.
    7. Ball, Kylie & Cleland, Verity J. & Timperio, Anna F. & Salmon, Jo & Giles-Corti, Billie & Crawford, David A., 2010. "Love thy neighbour? Associations of social capital and crime with physical activity amongst women," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(4), pages 807-814, August.
    8. Xi Pan & Rose Ward, 2015. "Self-management and Self-rated Health Among Middle-aged and Older Adults with Type 2 Diabetes in China: A Structural Equation Model," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 120(1), pages 247-260, January.
    9. Sirven, Nicolas, 2006. "Endogenous social capital and self-rated health: Cross-sectional data from rural areas of Madagascar," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(6), pages 1489-1502, September.
    10. Levasseur, Mélanie & Richard, Lucie & Gauvin, Lise & Raymond, Émilie, 2010. "Inventory and analysis of definitions of social participation found in the aging literature: Proposed taxonomy of social activities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(12), pages 2141-2149, December.
    11. Lorenzo Cappellari & Anna De Paoli & Gilberto Turati, 2016. "Do Market Incentives for Hospitals Affect Health and Service Utilization? Evidence from PPS-DRG Tariffs in Italian Regions," CESifo Working Paper Series 5804, CESifo.
    12. Rees, Philip Howell & Wohland, Pia N. & Norman, Paul D., 2009. "The estimation of mortality for ethnic groups at local scale within the United Kingdom," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(11), pages 1592-1607, December.
    13. Stafford, Mai & Cummins, Steven & Ellaway, Anne & Sacker, Amanda & Wiggins, Richard D. & Macintyre, Sally, 2007. "Pathways to obesity: Identifying local, modifiable determinants of physical activity and diet," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(9), pages 1882-1897, November.
    14. Jérôme Ronchetti & Anthony Terriau, 2019. "Impact of unemployment on self-perceived health," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 20(6), pages 879-889, August.
    15. Sungjung Kwak & Yoonmi Lee & Seunghui Baek & Jieun Shin, 2022. "Effects of Subjective Health Perception on Health Behavior and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in Patients with Prediabetes and Diabetes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-10, June.
    16. Zheng Xie & Adrienne N Poon & Zhijun Wu & Weiyan Jian & Kit Yee Chan, 2015. "Is Occupation a Good Predictor of Self-Rated Health in China?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(5), pages 1-18, May.
    17. Pronyk, Paul M. & Harpham, Trudy & Morison, Linda A. & Hargreaves, James R. & Kim, Julia C. & Phetla, Godfrey & Watts, Charlotte H. & Porter, John D., 2008. "Is social capital associated with HIV risk in rural South Africa?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(9), pages 1999-2010, May.
    18. Ronchetti, Jérôme & Terriau, Anthony, 2021. "Help me quit smoking but don't make me sick! The controversial effects of electronic cigarettes on tobacco smokers," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 274(C).
    19. Kazuma Sato, 2020. "Does marriage improve subjective health in Japan?," The Japanese Economic Review, Springer, vol. 71(2), pages 247-286, April.
    20. Badland, Hannah & Whitzman, Carolyn & Lowe, Melanie & Davern, Melanie & Aye, Lu & Butterworth, Iain & Hes, Dominique & Giles-Corti, Billie, 2014. "Urban liveability: Emerging lessons from Australia for exploring the potential for indicators to measure the social determinants of health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 64-73.

    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:65:y:2007:i:5:p:958-975. 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.