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Unpacking Psychological Vulnerabilities in Deaths of Despair.

ABSTRACT: Recent demographic findings show increased rates of death due to suicide, drug addictions, and alcoholism among midlife white adults of lower socioeconomic status (SES). These have been described as "deaths of despair" though little research has directly assessed psychological vulnerabilities. This study used longitudinal data from the Midlife in the U.S. (MIDUS) study to investigate whether low levels of eudaimonic and hedonic well-being predict increased risk of deaths of despair compared to other leading causes of death (cancer, heart disease). The investigation focused on 695 reported deaths with cause of death information obtained from 2004 to 2022 via NDI Plus. Key questions were whether risk for deaths due to despair (suicide, drug addiction, alcoholism) compared to deaths due to cancer or heart disease were differentially predicted by deficiencies in well-being, after adjusting for sociodemographic variables. Low levels of purpose in life, positive relations with others, personal growth and positive affect predicted significantly greater likelihood of deaths of despair compared to deaths due to heart disease, with such patterns prominent among better-educated adults. The findings bring attention to ongoing intervention efforts to improve psychological well-being.

SUBMITTER: Song J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10418686 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Unpacking Psychological Vulnerabilities in Deaths of Despair.

Song Jieun J Kang Sohyun S Ryff Carol D CD

International journal of environmental research and public health 20230731 15

Recent demographic findings show increased rates of death due to suicide, drug addictions, and alcoholism among midlife white adults of lower socioeconomic status (SES). These have been described as "deaths of despair" though little research has directly assessed psychological vulnerabilities. This study used longitudinal data from the Midlife in the U.S. (MIDUS) study to investigate whether low levels of eudaimonic and hedonic well-being predict increased risk of deaths of despair compared to o ...[more]

PMID: 37569020

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Project description:BackgroundA startling population health phenomenon has been unfolding since the turn of the 21st century. Whites in the United States, who customarily have the most favorable mortality profile of all racial groups, have experienced rising mortality rates, without a commensurate rise in other racial groups. The two leading hypotheses to date are that either contemporaneous economic conditions or longer-term (post-1970s) economic transformations have led to declining economic and social prospects of low-educated whites, culminating in "deaths of despair." We re-examine these hypotheses and investigate a third hypothesis: mortality increases are attributable to (false) perceptions of whites that they are losing social status.MethodsUsing administrative and survey data, we examined trends and correlations between race-, age- and, education-specific mortality and a range of economic and social indicators. We also conducted a county-level fixed effects model to determine whether changes in the Republican share of voters during presidential elections, as a marker of growing perceptions of social status threat, was associated with changes in working-age white mortality from 2000 to 2016, adjusting for demographic and economic covariates.FindingsRising white mortality is not restricted to the lowest education bracket and is occurring deeper into the educational distribution. Neither short-term nor long-term economic factors can themselves account for rising white mortality, because parallel trends (and more adverse levels) of these factors were being experienced by blacks, whose mortality rates are not rising. Instead, perceptions - misperceptions - of whites that their social status is being threatened by their declining economic circumstances seems best able to reconcile the observed population health patterns.ConclusionRising white mortality in the United States is not explained by traditional social and economic population health indicators, but instead by a perceived decline in relative group status on the part of whites - despite no actual loss in relative group position.

Dataset Information

Unpacking Psychological Vulnerabilities in Deaths of Despair.

Publications

Unpacking Psychological Vulnerabilities in Deaths of Despair.

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