SOC 322F Exam 2

Life expectancy at birth for black men

68.8 years

Percent of Hispanic women with bachelor's or higher

7.6%

Percent of black men with bachelor's or higher

7.6%

Life expectancy at birth for white men

75.1 years

Life expectancy at birth for black women

75.6 years

Life expectancy at birth for white women

80.3 years

The lifetime cumulative risk (measured to age 34) of imprisonment for all African American men is

over 20%

Explanations for race/ethnic differences in mental health:

- Racial discrimination as a chronic stressor - Socioeconomic status - Incarceration - Access to healthcare

How do power and status affect mental health?

- "Leadership is Associated with Lower Levels of Stress" - "The Local Ladder Effect"

Race differences in self-reported depressive symptoms

- African Americans typically report higher numbers of depressive symptoms than whites (in survey studies) - Yet, with respect to diagnosed depressive disorders, there are either no race differences or African Americans have lower rates of disorders

What are black-white differences in positive psychological well-being?

- Blacks have higher rates of complete mental health (flourishing and free of mental illness) than Whites - Blacks are mentally resilient in the face of greater social inequality and exposure to discrimination - About 27% more Blacks than Whites are flourishing and free of any mental illness

What are the main findings of the Midtown Manhattan Study?(covered in lecture 4)

- Mental disorders more prevalent among the lower class - Persons aged 20-29 of high socioeconomic status had the lowest rates of mental illness - Persons aged 50-59 of low socioeconomic status had the highest rates - Persistent disadvantage across the life course - Upwardly mobile persons fared better than stably disadvantaged or downwardly mobile

How are education, income, and occupation related to mental health?

- People with higher levels of education, income, and occupational prestige have fewer diseases, less disability, better mental health, and longer lives compared to people with low SES - Lower social class - Higher rates of mental illness, including depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, substance abuse, etc.

Percent of Hispanic men with bachelor's or higher

6.4%

Among African American men without a high school diploma, the lifetime risk of incarceration is

59%

Percent below poverty line among people with a college degree or higher

1.7%

Percent of Hispanic men with income below poverty line

11.4%

Percent of black women with bachelor's or higher

11.7%

Percent of black men with income below poverty line

12.1%

Percent of Hispanic women with income below poverty line

13.4%

Percent of black women with income below poverty line

15.5%

Percent below poverty line among people with less than a high school diploma

16.2%

Access to healthcare

African Americans and Hispanics are less likely to have health insurance, to regularly receive medical care, and to be screened early for health problems Racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to feel that health care providers are condescending and biased, and that the health counseling they receive is incorrect or incomplete

Incarceration

Incarceration is a strong predictor of long-term health People who have been incarcerated report significantly worse health than comparable people who have never been incarcerated Because African Americans are disproportionately incarcerated, and incarceration is detrimental to health, this partly explains why African Americans (especially men) have worse health than Whites

"Leadership is Associated with Lower Levels of Stress"

Leaders had lower levels of cortisol Leaders holding more powerful positions (with a large number of subordinates and substantial authority over subordinates) exhibited even lower cortisol levels than leaders holding less powerful positions Leaders' lower cortisol was explained by their the sense of control (mastery): - Leadership (power) increases the sense of control - A higher sense of control reduces cortisol

Subjective Well-Being (SWB)

Life satisfaction, positive and negative emotions

Social Selection

Mental Illness => Social Class "Selection" means people are "selected" into education, jobs, etc. based on their mental health status - More mental disorder in lower class because mentally ill persons "drift" downward in the social structure - Mentally healthy individuals in lower class tend to be upwardly mobile, thus leaving behind a "residue" of mentally ill persons Some evidence supporting a relationship between social mobility and mental disorder - BUT social selection alone is not a fully adequate explanation - The Midtown Manhattan study: mentally ill people are not especially mobile, either up or down

Racial differences in DSM diagnoses

Mood Disorders: Non-Hispanic blacks are 40% less likely, and Hispanics are 20% less likely, than non-Hispanic whites to experience (be diagnosed) a mood disorder Anxiety Disorders: Non-Hispanic blacks are 20% less likely and Hispanics are 30% less likely, than non-Hispanic whites to experience an anxiety disorder during their lifetime 12-month prevalence of major depressive episode among U.S. adults Hispanic: 7.0% White: 7.1% Black: 6.3% Schizophrenia is diagnosed more frequently among African Americans while mood disorders among whites

Race Categories

OMB required federal agencies to use a minimum of five categories; White, Black or African American, American Indian of Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. For all who do not fit the five categories, there's the Other Race category

Ethnicity Categories

OMB requires federal agencies to use a minimum of two ethnicities; Hispanic or Latino (Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central America, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of Race) and Not Hispanic or Latino

Socioeconomic status

Racial/ethnic differences in socioeconomic status (education, income, occupation) are key in explaining racial/ethnic health disparities - African Americans and Hispanics have lower levels of education, income, and wealth than Whites - African Americans and Hispanics are more likely than whites to have unstable, low-paying, monotonous, unrewarding jobs, often with hazardous conditions Lower socioeconomic status of African Americans and Hispanics contributes to their worse health and higher mortality relative to whites

Racial discrimination as a chronic stressor

Racism is embedded in the structure and function of the society Racial discrimination is a chronic stressor embedded in the very nature of daily life - Minority groups are more likely to experience unfair treatment and bias than whites - Stress caused by experiencing various forms of racial bias can weaken the body over time, lead to physical and mental health problems, and premature death

Social Causation

Social Class => Mental Illness Greater exposure - Lower class leads to greater adversity and stress as a result of a deprived life situation Greater vulnerability - Stressors have a more severe effect on socially disadvantaged than socially advantaged - Low social class - fewer resources to cope with stressors

What are the two explanations for the relationship between social class and mental health?

Social Causation & Social Selection

Current soncensus in sociology on the explanation for the relationship between soical class and mental health

Social class causes mental disorder more than mental disorder causes social class But this does not mean that social selection does not operate - Bruce Dohrenwend et al. (Science, 1992) - Necessary to take the type of mental disorder into account ---- The social selection hypothesis more relevant to the social class-schizophrenia relationship ---- The social causation hypothesis more useful for the social-class depression relationship

"The Local Ladder Effect"

Sociometric status = "local-ladder" status - The respect and admiration individuals have in their face-to-face groups, such as among their neighbors, coworkers, or classmates - Individuals' comparisons with others immediately around them affect their well-being more than distant comparisons - "Beggars do not envy millionaires, though of course they will envy other beggars who are more successful" (Bertrand Russell, 1930) Subjective well-being (SWB): Life satisfaction, positive and negative emotions Consistent with the local-ladder effect, higher sociometric status was associated with higher SWB Mechanism: - Occupying a higher position in the local ladder creates a sense of influence and control over the social environment, as well as a sense of belonging and acceptance - Individuals higher in sociometric status felt more powerful and more accepted in their social groups, which in turn increased their SWB

Flourishing

absence of mental illness, high levels of PWB (Positive Well-Being)

Languishing

absence of mental illness, low levels of PWB (Positive Well-Being)