Health behaviors and collective lifestyles: An examination of race/ethnic and occupational status health disparities

I use a population perspective to examine how race/ethnic and occupational status categories are associated with health behaviors. The 1997 through 2003 waves of the National Health Interview Survey, a nationally representative sample of adults aged 18 and older, are used to identify patterns of health.;Chapter 1 introduces research on health disparities and the dissertation approach. Chapter 2 includes theoretical antecedents of health lifestyle research. Chapter 3 describes the data and methods used throughout the dissertation.;Chapter 4 examines the relationship between race/ethnicity and occupational classification and behavioral investments in health through a focus on alcohol abuse, cigarette smoking, physical activity, and body mass index. Race/ethnic results are mixed, with non-Hispanic whites engaging in higher levels of binge drinking, cigarette smoking, and physical activity than non-Hispanic blacks and Mexican Americans. Whereas occupational classification indicates a general advantage for white-collar workers, occupational classification is not significant for many behaviors when controls are included. Rather, each social category has a unique relationship with health.;Chapter 5 examines the relationship between health behaviors and their integration into latent lifestyle patterns. Nine unique patterns of health emerge. These patterns include a large number of individuals who engage in seemingly contradictory behaviors that do not follow either biological or rational health behavior models. Rather, health behaviors appear to be predicated on lifestyle decisions based on opportunity structures and norms. While prior research suggests that fundamental causes of disease, including race/ethnicity and SES, are a primary predictor of health outcomes, these results indicate that this is may be due to an overall health profile rather than individual health behaviors that favors non-Hispanic whites and whitecollar workers.;Chapter 6 finds that residential context influences both individual health behaviors and overall patterns of health. Race/ethnic concentration, social environment, and physical environment have significant effects on health. However, residential context may entail unique interpretations for various social groups.;Overall, this dissertation indicates that health is not unidimensional. Health does not always fit into categories of "healthy" or "unhealthy." Results suggest that health is not as simple as examining social position and SES. Future health research needs to focus on multiple indicators and status groups to provide for targeted intervention programs to further address health disparities.