Abstract
This chapter describes the two main quantitative strategies for explaining the association of mental or emotional well-being with various social and social psychological circumstances or characteristics, such as level of education, identity, or personal history. Statistically explaining an association means demonstrating the conditions under which it no longer exists. If an association vanishes under specific conditions, then the absence of those conditions accounts for the association. Data analysts have two basic methods for explaining associations. Progressive adjustment looks for mediators, which are consequences of the independent variable that cause the outcome, forming a bridge between them. Interaction analysis looks for moderators, which regulate the size and direction of the association being analyzed. External moderators apply to everyone whereas internal moderators apply only to people in a limited range of the independent variable. The same explanatory variable can be both mediator and moderator, as illustrated in the case of structural amplification.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Abbreviations
- EXP:
-
Exponent
- LN:
-
Natural logarithm
- SQRT:
-
Square root
- VIF:
-
Variance Inflation Factor
References
Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Cohen, J. (1968). Multiple regression as a general data-analytic system. Psychological Bulletin, 70, 426–443.
Cole, S. (1972). The sociological method. Chicago: Markham.
Davis, J. A. (1985). The logic of causal order. In J. L. Sullivan (Series Ed.), Sage university paper series on quantitative applications in the social sciences (Vol. 55). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Hamilton, L. C. (1992). Regression with graphics: A second course in applied statistics. Pacific Grover, CA: Brooks/Cole.
Mirowsky, J., & Ross, C. E. (1992). Age and depression. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 33, 187–205.
Mirowsky, J., & Ross, C. E. (2003). Education, social status, and health: Social institutions and social change. New Brunswick, NJ: Aldine de Gruyter.
Preacher, K. J., Rucker, D. D., & Hayes, A. F. (2007). Addressing moderated mediation hypotheses: Theory, methods, and prescriptions. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 42, 185–227.
Ross, C. E., & Mirowsky, J. (1992). Households, employment, and the sense of control. Social Psychology Quarterly, 55, 217–235.
Ross, C. E., & Mirowsky, J. (1999). Parental divorce, life course disruption, and adult depression. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 61, 1034–1045.
Ross, C. E., & Mirowsky, J. (2006). Sex differences in the effect of education on depression: Resource multiplication or resource substitution? Social Science & Medicine, 63, 1400–1413.
Ross, C. E., & Mirowsky, J. (2011). The interaction of personal and parental education on health. Social Science & Medicine, 72, 591–599.
Ross, C. E., Mirowsky, J., & Pribesh, S. (2001). Powerlessness and the amplification of threat: Neighborhood disadvantage, disorder, and mistrust. American Sociological Review, 66, 568–591.
Susser, M. (1973). Causal thinking in the health sciences: Concepts and strategies of epidemiology. New York: Oxford University Press.
Wheaton, B. (1985). Models for the stress-buffering functions of coping resources. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 26, 352–364.
Acknowledgments
Data collection, analysis, and reporting were supported by two grants from the National Institute on Aging: R01 AG12393 “Aging, Status and the Sense of Control” (Mirowsky Principal Investigator (PI), Ross Co-PI), and R01 AG035268 “Reconceptualizing Socioeconomic Status and Health” (Ross PI, Mirowsky Co-PI).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mirowsky, J. (2013). Analyzing Associations Between Mental Health and Social Circumstances. In: Aneshensel, C.S., Phelan, J.C., Bierman, A. (eds) Handbook of the Sociology of Mental Health. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4276-5_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4276-5_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-4275-8
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-4276-5
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawSocial Sciences (R0)