This book assembles a wide range of explanatory perspectives on social inequalities in health. Everywhere in the world, those with less advantage die younger and suffer more illness than the wealthy. Decades of research have documented this reality and yet we lack a comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms through which social circumstances ultimately influence the biological processes that lead to disease. Explanations have been proposed from various disciplines – economics, psychology, behavioral science, geography, and neuroscience – and each sheds light on parts of the overall process. But very few texts assemble these insights into an overall explanatory paradigm.

Through a review of concepts and theories from a wide range of disciplines, the author outlines how these may be woven together to offer a more complete picture of how social influences get under the skin to affect health and disease. As well as understanding individual health, the book assembles explanations for social disparities in health. It concludes with a proposal for a set of explanatory models that cross disciplinary boundaries. Topics explored include:

Social Inequalities in Health

Explanation and Causal Models for Social Epidemiology

Social and Economic Theories to Explain Patterns of Disease

Biological Pathways Linking Social Determinants to Health

Theoretical Models of Health Behavior

Work Environment and Health

Social Networks, Social Support and Health

Positive Influences on Health: Coping and Control

The Relationship Between Personality and Health

Understanding Health Determinants: Explanatory Theories for Social Epidemiology is a textbook for graduate students in epidemiology, health sciences, health policy, and psychology, as well as social science students who are studying health. It will also be of interest to general readers, and can serve as a reference for researchers in epidemiology and the health sciences who are planning studies of the social determinants of health. The book reviews theories that could be tested in such studies.