Objective We systematically review the literature on social epigenetics, examining how
empirical research to date has conceptualized and operationalized social determinants of …

The 2010 special issue of Journal of Health and Social Behavior, titled “Fifty Years of
Medical Sociology,” defined the contours of the medical sociological perspective. We use …

Longstanding racial/ethnic inequalities in morbidity and mortality persist in the United States.
Although the determinants of health inequalities are complex, social and structural factors …

Social epigenomics has emerged as an integrative field of research focused on identification
of socio-environmental factors, their influence on human biology through epigenomic …

Background Socioeconomic position (SEP) is a major determinant of health across the life
course. Yet, little is known about the biological mechanisms explaining this relationship. One …

Social and behavioral research in public health is often intimately tied to profound, but
frequently neglected, biological influences from underlying genetic, environmental, and …

Epigenetic changes represent a potential mechanism underlying associations of early-life
exposures and later life health outcomes. Population-based cohort studies starting in early …

Objectives Socioeconomic status (SES) is a powerful determinant of health, but the
underlying biological mechanisms are poorly understood. This study investigates whether …

Background Socioeconomic experiences are recognized determinants of health, and recent
work has shown that social disadvantages in early life may induce sustained biological …

Advances in stress physiology and molecular dynamics can illuminate population health
inequality. The “weathering” hypothesis posits that socially structured, repeated stress …