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.
