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Symmetry in Health Outcomes Based on Health Behaviors: Socioeconomic Status, Health Behaviors, and Self-Rated Health
Mon, August 12, 8:30 to 9:30am, New York Hilton, Floor: Third Floor, Trianon BallroomAbstract
Health outcomes and subsequent health disparities have well-established links to socioeconomic status (SES); in general, these links indicate that people of lower-SES have worse health than their higher-SES counterparts. Researchers have found consistent health disparities between SES groups using various health outcomes, including self-rated health (SRH). While some suggest these differences might are due to different health behaviors, many scholars suggest that one of the main reasons for these disparities is access to resources, particularly educational attainment, income, and social networks. In addition to health disparities, there are also differences in the distribution of negative health behaviors among lower- and higher-SES groups. Health behaviors are "personal actions that influence health, disability, and mortality".
While research has established the relationships between (1) SES and health outcomes and (2) SES and health behaviors, less is understood about how specific health behaviors might differentially affect the health outcomes of individuals within socioeconomic groups or whether the effects of specific health behaviors have the same impact between groups. In this study, I investigate the interaction between two health behaviors—smoking and alcohol consumption—with levels of education and income. Examining this interaction will help to explain the role health behaviors play in health disparities between SES groups and whether the same NHBs are more harmful to low-SES than for high-SES or if there is symmetry in the effects between the groups. Preliminary results show some symmetry between SES groups, but some health behaviors are more negative for the health of low-SES individuals than high-SES.