Are employment and social integration more strongly associated with deaths of despair than psychological or economic distress?

ABSTRACT: The label "deaths of despair" for rising US mortality related to drugs/alcohol/suicide seems to implicate emotional distress as the cause. However, a Durkheimian approach would argue that underlying structural factors shape individuals' behavior and emotions. Despite a growing literature on deaths of despair, no study has directly compared the effects of distress and structural factors on deaths of despair versus other causes of mortality. Using data from the Midlife in the United States study with approximately 26 years of mortality follow-up, we evaluated whether psychological or economic distress, employment status, and social integration were more strongly associated with drug/alcohol/suicide mortality than with other causes. Cox hazard models, adjusted for potential confounders, showe

SUBMITTER: Glei DA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11411603 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature