Explaining socioeconomic disparities in health behaviours: A review of biopsychological pathways involving stress and inflammation.
Neurosci Biobehav Rev
; 127: 689-708, 2021 08.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-34048858
The purpose of this article was to explore how individuals' position in a socioeconomic hierarchy is related to health behaviours that are related to socioeconomic disparities in health. We identified research which shows that: (a) low socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with living in harsh environments, (b) harsh environments are related to increased levels of stress and inflammation, (c) stress and inflammation impact neural systems involved in self-control by sensitising the impulsive system and desensitising the reflective system, (d) the effects are inflated valuations of small immediate rewards and deflated valuations of larger delayed rewards, (e) these effects are observed as increased delay discounting, and (f) delay discounting is positively associated with practicing more unhealthy behaviours. The results are discussed within an adaptive evolutionary framework which lays out how the stress response system, and its interaction with the immune system and brain systems for decision-making and behaviours, provides the biopsychological mechanisms and regulatory shifts that make widespread conditional adaptability possible. Consequences for policy work, interventions, and future research are discussed.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Delay Discounting
Type of study:
Prognostic_studies
Aspects:
Determinantes_sociais_saude
/
Equity_inequality
Limits:
Humans
Language:
En
Journal:
Neurosci Biobehav Rev
Year:
2021
Document type:
Article
Country of publication:
United States