We examine the role of perceived stress and health behaviors (i.e., cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, sleep duration) in shaping differential mortality among whites, blacks, and Hispanics. We use data from the 1990 National Health Interview Survey (N = 38,891), a...

This study sought to examine the influence of length of stay and language proficiency on immigrants’ access to and utilization of care in Canada and the United States (US). Data came from the 2007–2008 Canadian Community Health Survey and the National Health Interview Survey. Analyses were...

Although immigrant youth have lower rates of substance use than US born youth, whether substance use varies by generation and time in the US is unclear. This study examines adolescent alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use by generation/time in US (i.e., first generation, in US ≤4 years; first...

As economic expansions raise employment and wages, associated shifts in income and time constraints would be expected to also impact individuals’ health. This study utilizes information from the US Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (1990–2009) to explore the relationship between the...

Although scholars have noted the connection between appearance and assumptions of health, the degree to which these assumptions matter for establishing authority in social interaction remains less clear. Using a theoretical framework involving “bodily capital”—that is, the value generated...

Physical activity is an important determinant of obesity and overall health for children, but significant race/ethnic and nativity disparities exist in the amount of physical activity that children receive, with immigrant children particularly at risk for low levels of physical activity. In this...

Medical sociologists hold that social conditions generate disparities across a host of health conditions through exposure to a variety of more proximate risk factors. Though distal and proximal causes jointly influence disease, the nature of risk accumulation may differ appreciably by the link...