Published In
Socius
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-17-2024
Subjects
Public health -- Research, Health equity in America, Community leadership -- United States
Abstract
Geographical residence predicts health and well-being. Population health, life expectancy, and mortality are partially the outcome of the characteristics of one’s social policy context. Yet how do such links occur? We extend focus from health outcomes to health behaviors and from a policy context to a broader political context. Using 20 waves of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System between 1993 and 2021 in combination with the Correlates of State Policy Project, we find that right-leaning political contexts—both policies and public attitudes—are predictive of riskier health behaviors. Counterfactual simulations show that these associations are due less to states becoming more different over time but rather, with political contexts increasing in their predictiveness over time. Results from this study broaden the pathways linking local politics to health and identify a key antecedent, health behaviors, that helps explain political context’s influence on health.
Rights
Copyright (c) 2024 The Authors
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Locate the Document
DOI
10.1177/23780231241285061
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/42651
Citation Details
VanHeuvelen, J. S., Wang, Y., & VanHeuvelen, T. (2024). Political Context and State-Level Health Behavior Disparities. Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World, 10.