M3s3 Social Connectedness And Socioeconomic Statis (SES) Flashcards
Social connection conveyed through
Feelings of inclusion and support felt between people in relationships and communities
Social connectedness and perception of health
-people have strong sense of community belonging were 2.6 times more likely to also report very good or excellent general health and 3.2 times more likely to report very good or excellent mental health as compared to those who did not have strong feelings of social connection in their communities
-61% of people with strong community belonging reported both very good/excellent general health and mental health
Social connectedness and health behaviours
-people who reported higher levels of social connectedness also reported healthier lifestyle behaviours like walking, eating healthier or engaging in more moderate amount of screen time
Social connectedness and health improvements
-declines in health also associated with low levels of community belonging
-those who felt their health declined over the course of a year were 28% less likely to report a strong sense of community belonging
Socioeconomic status (SES)
-individuals or groups position within a hierarchical social structure
-term derived from a combination of social and economic Status
Socioeconomic position
-social and economic factors that influence what positions individuals or groups hold within the structure of society
SES concept refers to both
- Social and economic factors
- Persons social position in society’s social hierarchy
Measuring SES
Individual indicators:
-persons level of education attained
-their annual income or family income
-their occupation which closely tied to social “class”
Area-level indicators:
-proportion of population with less than high school level education
-proportion of population working in manual labour positions
-average family income in a specific census subdivision
Indicators for measuring life course SES
Childhood
-parental education and occupation
-household income
-household conditions
Young adulthood
-education
Professional life
-occupational social class
-unemployment
-income
-wealth, deprivation
-household conditions
-partner’s SES
-assets transfer occurring when starting a family
Retirement
-wealthy, deprivation
-household conditions
-assests transfer across generations occurring at death
Relationship between SES and Health
SES
-education
-occupation
-income
-subjective SES
-SES inequality
-RACE GENDER
Connecting pathways (2 pathways)
Environmental resources and constraints:
-what higher or lower levels of SES allow access to in material senses
Neighbourhood factors
Social capital
Work situation
Family environment
Social support
Discrimination
Psychological influences:
-how higher or lower levels of SES affect how people see themselves and their abilities, experiences, extent of control and health compared to others
Resilience/reserve capacity
Negative affect (anxiety, depression, hostility)
Lack of control
Negative expectations
Perceived discrimination
Health outcomes:
-intermediate variables that affect access to quality and effective medical care, exposures to pathogens and environmental carcinogens, health-related behaviours and central nervous system and endocrine responses to stress
Cognitive functioning
Physical functioning
Disease onset
Disease process
Mortality
*refer to goodnotes image
Critical periods when socio-economic influences make even more of an impact (positive or negative) than others
3 basic ways to think about SES influences:
Critical period
-early life influences like exposure to environmental chemicals during sensitive periods of brain development. Ex. Influence later life outcomes like future brain function
Pathway explanation
-early experiences can set individuals on different health trajectories such that early event like exposure to domestic violence in childhood may influence psychological development and mental health outcomes along a chain of events from childhood forward
Cumulative explanation
-day to day exposures to adversity may build to cause adverse health outcomes over time ex. Mild food insecurity in childhood with its physical and psychological influences can impact health and development and contribute to physical and mental illness later in life
Neurobiological pathways affected by low SES
Childhood and adulthood SES
-psychological factors related to SES at younger age affects neuroplasticity of brain
-factors like parental resources and education, interact with individual’s genetic and dispositional (tendency of someone/something to act in a certain manner or under given circumstances) differences and can lead to stress that affect limbic regions of brain
-ares of the brain are responsible for regulating allostatic control system
-factors in adulthood like meaningful employment and social integration may also effect limbic system that mediates allostatic control systems
Physiological effects
-limbic regions of brain regulate neuroendocrine, autonomic, and immune systems
-these systems play a role in bidirectional allodynamic control of important areas of human physiology like metabolic processes, cardiovascular system and immune system and can impact behavioural regulation
-extent that lower SES adversely impacts limbic neuroplasticity will dictate extend that allostatic control systems become impaired later in life
-as such, low SES can lead to larger allostatic load on body and brain and increase one’s risk of poor health
*refer to goodnotes for image
Allostatic load
Adaptation in face of stress
-wear and tear on body which grow over time when individual exposed to repeated chronic stress
Socioeconomic position
The social and economic factors that influence what positions individuals or groups hold within the structure of a society
Socioeconomic status
An individuals or groups position within a hierarchical social structure
