Do Negative Emotions Mediate the Association between Socioeconomic Status and Health?

Abstract

In this chapter, we examine the possibility that negative emotions contribute to the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and health. A model of the associations among SES, emotion, and health is presented first. We then review the evidence for this model, showing associations of SES with depression, hopelessness, anxiety, and hostile affect and cognition, and of these negative emotions with disease. Notably, most of the data supporting the model provide only indirect evidence that negative emotions serve as a key contributor to the proposed associations. We, therefore, conclude with recommendations for longitudinal research, especially in children, that will more directly and comprehensively examine negative emotions as possible mediators of the SES and health relationship.

Are changes in blood pressure and total cholesterol related to changes in mood? An 18-month study of men and women.

“…It has also been suggested that known links between socioeconomic status and ill-health, including cardiovascular disease, are mediated partly through negative emotions (Gallo and Matthews, 1999). While it may be that stressors exert additional direct physiological influences via mechanisms that do not involve conscious psychological processes, the role of conscious affective state has been accorded primacy in the literature.…”

“…While it may be that stressors exert additional direct physiological influences via mechanisms that do not involve conscious psychological processes, the role of conscious affective state has been accorded primacy in the literature. Mood is believed to have a direct effect on the sympathetic adrenal medullary and the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal cortical neuroendocrine axes, which influence both blood pressure and serum lipid levels (Henry, 1982;Gallo and Matthews, 1999).…”

Income and recurrent events after a coronary event in women

“…The social gradient in depressive symptoms is well documented [56], whereas depression has been consistently shown to predict CHD or poor outcome in already established disease [57]. So far, depression as a link between socioeconomic status and recurrent events in CHD women patients has not yet been investigated.…”

Relationships among socio-economic status, parenting, academic achievement, and self-esteem in early and middle adolescence: a longitudinal study

“…Lower-SES parents are more likely to suffer from low levels of energy and high levels of anxiety, hostility, and depression, have low social support levels, and experience distress from their jobs (Gallo & Matthews, 1999;McLoyd, 1990;Wilkinson, 1999). Therefore, those parents are more likely to use negative and harsh strategies to deal with parent-adolescent relationships, and provide less warmth, responsiveness, and monitoring.…”

“…Several researchers (Gallo & Matthews, 1999;McLoyd, 1990;Wilkinson, 1999) have found that low-SES parents are more likely to use negative and harsh strategies to deal with their children, to provide less warmth, responsiveness, and monitoring because of low levels of energy, to suffer from high levels of anxiety, hostility, and depression, to have low social support levels, and to experience distress from jobs. A few longitudinal studies have found that low SES levels lead to harsh or negative parenting, which leads to lower competence and to more maladaptive behaviors in children and adolescents Conger et al, 1992Conger et al, , 1997Elder et al, 1985;Felner et al, 1995;Luster et al, 1995;Lempers et al, 1989;McCoy et al, 1999;McLoyd et al, 1994;Morrison & Eccles, 1995).…”