Childhood adversity affects life course mental health, but patterns may differ across adversity exposures or across social experiences that buffer or amplify risks of adversity. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health ( N = 7,597), we join the life course perspective with social networks and the stress process model to explore the relationships between adverse childhood experiences, peer networks, and depressive symptoms. Latent class analysis indicates three adversity subtypes (Maltreatment, Household Challenges, and Low Adversity) predicting distinct depressive symptom trajectories from ages 12 to 32. Peer network sociality and popularity predict depressive symptom trajectories uniquely across latent classes, with particular risks for maltreated youth, who see no mental health benefits from sociality and amplified risks from popularity. Results speak to the life course consequences of childhood adversity and the roles of social ties in shaping depressive symptoms for vulnerable youth.
Suicide by firearm is a pressing public health concern, directing attention to the relationship between guns and suicide mortality. This article introduces a novel theory of the role of guns in suicide, positing that beyond access, gun culture—the shared social meaning of guns—independently corresponds with higher rates of suicide by firearm among white men. Using data from the American National Election Survey (ANES) 2020 Time Series Study, I empirically measure gun culture at the state level by combining multiple attitudinal measures. Then using Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Underlying Cause of Death data, I show that gun culture predicts firearm suicide mortality for non-Hispanic white men, net of demographic and political state characteristics and of gun ownership and sales, and that this relationship is moderated by past-year non-white migration. Taking a cultural-structural approach to suicide, I theorize that gun culture can exacerbate the psychological harm white men may experience as a result of economic precarity interpreted through the lens of white masculinity and justify violence in response, contributing to suicidality.
This study advances the perspective that prevailing structural explanations for women's elevated depressive symptoms relative to men can be complemented by social psychological insights regarding anticipatory stressors or people's worries about the future. Using national survey data (n = 1,810), we find that women are more likely than men to worry about future victimization, discrimination, bereavement, and economic security. Although to a much lesser extent than general anxiety, anticipatory stressors mediate the link between stress exposure and depressive symptoms; however, these relationships do not vary by gender. We do not find evidence that women are more likely than men to experience anticipatory stress due to stress exposure, or that their mental health is more vulnerable to anticipatory stressors. Rather, men's mental health is more sensitive to worries about future victimization, discrimination, and economic precarity. Following adjustment for differences in general anxiety, anticipatory stressors explain merely one-tenth of the gender gap in depressive symptoms.
Stigma surrounding mental illness is shaped by emotional reactions such as pity and empathy. While pity can involve condescension and reinforce hierarchies, empathy fosters understanding and connection. This study tested how different mental health conditions elicit these emotions and mediate stigmatizing attitudes. A nationally representative U.S. sample ( N = 5,264) read vignettes describing a character with subclinical distress, major depression, alcohol use disorder, opioid use disorder, or schizophrenia. Vignettes varied by diagnosis and symptoms, causal explanation (none, trauma, genetics, both), and treatment recommendation (none, psychotherapy, medication). Structural equation modeling showed that empathy reduced social distance more consistently than pity. Schizophrenia and substance use disorders evoked less empathy and more pity, while environmental attributions to a traumatic event increased pity and empathy. Treatment recommendations enhanced empathy but not pity. Findings highlight that targeting empathy over pity may lead to stigma reduction, suggesting that interventions might benefit from emphasizing relatable experiences and trauma while balancing treatment messaging.
Better understanding the social patterning of personal control beliefs is crucial for research on health and inequality. In this study, I argue for and explain an association between social capital and mastery in a national sample. How, for whom, and to what extent do people who report more occupationally diverse ties also report a stronger sense of control over life outcomes? Using a position generator approach to social capital, the 2008 Canadian General Social Survey, and regression models, I test three hypotheses about total and gendered social capitals across the categorical boundaries of respondent gender, visible minority, and foreign-born status. I conclude this approach to the classic question of who benefits from diverse social networks by suggesting directions for future research on the interplay between social networks, stress, and well-being.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic increased psychological distress globally, not all countries experienced the same mental health burden. This study investigates one potential driver of cross-national heterogeneity in pandemic mental health outcomes: country-level social capital. In particular, it explores whether pre-pandemic country-level social capital-generalized trust, personal/family relationships, and civic/social participation-buffered the mental health impacts of mixing/mobility restrictions, measured using high-frequency Google mobility data. Focusing on developed economies, two individual-level datasets are analyzed: a four-wave panel (n = 10 countries) and a cross-sectional survey spanning a near-complete sample of all developed economies (n = 34 countries). Hierarchical modeling shows increasing country-level immobility predicts heightened individual-level psychological distress, but this association is significantly weaker in higher-social-capital societies, particularly those with higher civic/social participation. Mediation analysis indicates that social capital attenuated two key pathways linking immobility to distress-greater loneliness and reduced satisfaction with governments' handling of the pandemic-which accounts for nearly half of the apparent cushioning role of country-level social capital. Longitudinal modeling provides more causally robust evidence, while a cross-sectional replication across a near-complete sample of developed economies indicates generalizability. Findings suggest elements of country-level social capital may be a vital contextual resource fostering societal resilience during (trans-)national crises.
Most research on combat exposure and mental health focuses on outcomes most soldiers do not experience, such as posttraumatic stress disorder and suicide. We focus instead on psychological distress using data from World War II. We find that more than 60 percent of Pacific Theater combat soldiers had very high psychological distress, which likely would have disqualified them for military service for psychiatric reasons in 1944. Their symptoms were normally distributed, like those of psychiatric patients. In our stress process model, structural location in military organizations led to psychological distress through exposure to combat and stressors linked to the combat mission. These stressors undermined some psychosocial resources and mobilized others. We conclude that psychological distress in wartime may be a primary cause of postwar problems in the lives of veterans. We recommend that research on soldiers' mental health make psychological distress a sustained focus of inquiry.
Amid America's mental health crisis, Christian ministers serve as intermediaries between congregants and professional care. Drawing on the Gateway Provider Model, this study uses nationally representative data from the National Survey of Religious Leaders (N = 752) to explore three competing explanations for variation in ministers' referral behavior: biblical belief, racial identity, and political identity. Findings show that most ministers (79 percent) function as Conduits, referring congregants to mental health professionals at least once yearly. Among the 21 percent who did not refer, Alternative Providers (6 percent) engage with congregants' mental health needs but make no professional referrals, while Inactive Ministers (15 percent) neither report being approached nor make referrals. Ministers holding dogmatic biblical beliefs show significantly higher odds of being Alternative Providers. These findings emphasize the importance of ministers' theological orientation shaping their behavior as gateway providers in their congregant communities.
This study examines whether adolescent depressive symptoms predict material hardship in adulthood and explores the developmental pathways linking the two. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), we analyze a sibling sample (N = 2,107). Sibling fixed effects models are used to account for unobserved familial and environmental confounding. Adolescent depressive symptoms are significantly associated with adult material hardship, even after adjusting for adult depressive symptoms. Mediation analyses indicate that both human capital, particularly educational attainment, and socio-emotional capital, including neuroticism, conscientiousness, and locus of control, partially explain this association. Socio-emotional traits account for a larger share of the indirect effect, highlighting their importance in shaping economic outcomes. By focusing on material hardship as an experience-based measure of economic insecurity, this study underscores the need for early interventions supporting academic achievement and socio-emotional development to reduce lasting disadvantage related to adolescent mental health.
Although pain has grown among all racial and socioeconomic (SES) groups over the past decade, reports indicate that White and low SES individuals tend to report higher levels of pain than their minority and high SES counterparts. Drawing on data from the Nashville Stress and Health Study (n = 619), this article examines the role that psychosocial mechanisms play in the relationship between SES and pain among White individuals. We find that perceived powerlessness, subjective social status, and discrimination all help explain why low SES White individuals have higher levels of pain than high SES White individuals. We also evaluate the relative contribution of each of these mechanisms in the SES-pain relationship using causal mediation techniques. Findings indicate that powerlessness explained 50 percent of the association between SES and pain, subjective social status explained approximately 19 percent, and discrimination explained approximately 17 percent.
Remote and hybrid work have received much attention since the expansion of off-site work following the COVID-19 pandemic. Research on the effects of these arrangements on workers' well-being, however, is mixed, likely because studies rarely account for workers' workplace preferences. Using data from the 2023 wave of the Study on U.S. Parents' Divisions of Labor During COVID-19 (SPDLC), we assess the association between work-place mismatch (misalignment between preferred and actual work locations) and both work-family conflict and psychological well-being (stress and depressive symptoms) among partnered working parents. Results suggest that most parents report some degree of work-place mismatch, with on-site workers reporting the highest work-place mismatch. We also find that work-place mismatch is positively associated with work-family conflict and negatively associated with parents' psychological well-being. After accounting for work-place mismatch, parents who work on-site report lower work-family conflict and higher psychological well-being than remote and hybrid workers. Overall, results highlight the need to account for workers' preferences in understanding the association between work conditions, work-family conflict, and psychological well-being.
Depression among young South Koreans has been sharply increasing. The life course perspective and cumulative disadvantage theory suggest a link between poor mental health and difficulties in the transition to work in the context of prolonged economic uncertainties. Using the Korean Welfare Panel Study (KoWePS, Waves 1-13), this research used structural equation modeling to examine the reciprocal associations between non-stable employment and depressive symptoms among Koreans in their 20s, born between 1979 and 1990 (N = 1,441) and how they are moderated by educational attainment and gender. Results show that earlier disadvantages in employment and mental health accumulated across young adulthood through social causation, health selection, and path dependence influences. This process varied by educational attainment but not gender; less-educated young adults were at greatest risk of accumulated disadvantages. Our findings underscore that employment precarity and mental health are intertwined, requiring increased supports for young adults, especially for the less educated.
This study examines the mental health impacts of emotional labor using an integrated analytical model that considers both job-level emotional labor requirements (negative and positive display rules) and psychological processes of emotion regulation (deep acting and surface acting). Using data from the 2021 Emotions Matter Survey (n = 854) of mental health and library workers in Ontario, Canada, we explore the conditions under which emotional labor requirements negatively impact mental health. Our findings reveal that negative display rules significantly increase anxiety, and surface acting exacerbates both anxiety and anger. Contrary to expectations, deep acting did not serve as a protective factor for mental health but showed a complex interaction with negative display rules, worsening psychological states under high negative emotional demands. This research underscores the intricate nature of emotional labor's impact on mental health, highlighting the need for context-specific strategies to support frontline workers in emotionally intensive roles.
Refugees and migrants in need of protection (MNP) experience high levels of psychological distress and somatic symptoms—physical symptoms linked to stress. While a large body of literature explores the relationship between pre-migration trauma and health, less is known about the role of post-migration stressors. Drawing on a novel 13-week intensive panel survey (N=247 individuals; 3,093 observations) and in-depth interviews (N=65) with MNP in Costa Rica, I examine the relationship among stressors, psychological distress, and physical symptoms in the receiving context. Quantitative analysis highlights that post-migration stressors, including economic precarity and discrimination, are strongly associated with heightened psychological distress, which in turn increases the likelihood of somatic symptoms. Interview data corroborate these results and further uncover how MNP perceive and articulate the process of somatization. This study advances understanding of the dynamic pathways linking stressors, psychological distress, and physical health, offering both theoretical insights and practical recommendations for service providers and policymakers.
Research has well-established the spillover effects of work-family conflict on health along with its crossover effects on other family members. However, no study to my knowledge has examined the crossover effects of spousal work-family multitasking on their partner’s mental health. This study seeks to advance research by documenting the relationship between perceptions of spousal work-family multitasking and the respondents’ psychological distress along with the intervening mechanisms that explain this pattern. Drawing on five waves of panel data from the Canadian Work, Stress, and Health Study (2011–2019, n = 2,147 respondents), the results reveal that when respondents perceive their spouse to engage in work-family multitasking very often, the respondents report elevated levels of distress. The association between spousal work-family multitasking and respondents’ distress is explained by perceptions of spousal work-to-family conflict and respondents’ family-to-work conflict. The implications of these results are discussed in light of crossover stress and role theory, the stress process model, and work-family boundary theories.
How does race-gender status shape the medicalization and criminalization of those with mental illness? Using data from the 2022 wave of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, I examine the associations between mental illness and arrest versus mental health treatment, and how these associations vary by race-gender status. I find significant patterns of difference among Black, Hispanic, and White men and women. Having mental illness is significantly, positively associated with arrest for all groups, however the magnitude of this relationship is statistically greater for Hispanic men. In addition, Hispanic men, along with Black men, have the smallest associations between mental illness and mental health treatment. Conversely, White women have the highest probability of mental health treatment compared to other race-gender groups, and the lowest probability of arrest. This pattern suggests Black and Hispanic men are disproportionately criminalized for their mental illness compared to other race-gender groups, while White women are most often medicalized. I discuss the implications of these findings and offer suggestions for future research.
Drawing from the life-course framework and an integrated model of social resources and social costs, this article investigates (1) the dynamics of personal network changes, (2) their impact on loneliness following widowhood, and (3) the gender-specific effects of these changes. Analyzing panel data from the German Ageing Survey (N = 7,012; observations = 20,816) using multi-level mixed-effects models, the study reveals a modest expansion in non-kin networks and the number of children in networks after widowhood. Additionally, the findings indicate that over time, widowed individuals generally experience a reduction in the distance to their nearest network members, particularly kin. Growing non-kin networks are associated with lower loneliness following widowhood. Geographic changes in networks display gender-specific patterns: proximity to children is linked to reduced loneliness for widowed men, but greater loneliness for widowed women. These results underscore the complex and gendered nature of relational adaptations to widowhood, highlighting that network changes can offer both benefits and challenges during life transitions. The study also suggests that considering opportunity costs can be a valuable extension of the social cost framework.
Women were the driving force behind the expansion of higher education in the United States. Their rise in enrollment developed alongside a rapid increase in educational expectations. This study explores the question of how these landmark shifts in women's expanded expectations, attainment, and the (mis)alignment of the two have influenced mental health now that these women have entered midlife. Using data from the sophomore cohort of the 1980 High School and Beyond (HS&B:So) study through its 2014 midlife follow-up, results show that for women in the sophomore cohort (n = 2,010), exceeding educational expectations is significantly associated with an increase in experiencing serious mental illness in midlife compared to meeting or missing educational expectations. These results suggest that overachieving educational expectations carry distinct psychological consequences.
In this article, I address the current mental health crisis in the United States, consisting of a rapid rise in anxiety and depression among millennials and growing deaths of despair among non-college middle-aged adults. I argue that the twin crises have much in common, as different as they might appear. Both are crises of subjective interpretation and meaning as much as objective circumstance and opportunity. Yet to date they have been interpreted narrowly, as reflecting environmental and technological change and growing impingements on the individual, whether with respect to a rise in social media or a decline in manufacturing jobs. In research on rising mortality, despair has slowly assumed secondary status to deaths. Here, I argue that there is more to the overall mental health crisis, and for this reason, the crisis is worse than it appears. Generations are exposed to more stressful environments, but the cultural environment has also failed to provide them with the tools to cope and manage the consequences of their suffering. Furthermore, even as social conditions have conspired to increase emotional suffering, the social environment has demanded even greater mental fitness, creating an increasingly mental health-biased socioeconomic environment. A sociological approach to the crisis would incorporate a more expansive view of the person and the situation, allowing for more consideration of meaning-making, adaptation, self-conception, and how mental health problems are received. Among other things, this would recenter mental health among the tangle of problems adumbrated in the literature on rising anxiety and mortality.
Financial hardship was pervasive during the COVID-19 pandemic, with adverse consequences for mental health. However, access to state-level paid sick leave during the pandemic had the potential to reduce the mental health burden of financial hardship—a possibility that has not been tested in prior research. Using nationally representative survey data on more than 1.7 million individuals from the Household Pulse Survey (August 2020 to November 2022) merged with state-level data on paid sick leave policies, we estimated a battery of two-way fixed-effects linear probability models to examine whether paid leave policies buffered the association between financial hardship and depression and anxiety risks. Results show that experiencing financial hardship increased depression and anxiety risks but that the mental health consequences of financial hardship were dampened for respondents living in a state with an active paid sick leave policy. Moreover, because racially minoritized adults, women, transgender adults, and less-educated adults were more likely to experience financial hardship over the period, our study highlights the potential for paid leave policies to reduce population inequities in mental health. We point to paid sick leave policies as an important macro-level determinant of mental health with especially salient mental health consequences for marginalized groups.
