New work in the journal Sociology of Health and Illness by Seth Prins, a Doctoral Student in Epidemiology, and Cluster faculty, Lisa Bates and Katherine Keyes, explores how social class may influence depression and anxiety in ways that are not explained by standard socio-economic measures such as income and education. Using data on full-time workers from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (n = 21,859) they find that individuals with supervisor and managerial positions have higher rates of anxiety and depression than those with worker positions or ownership positions.
- Prevalence of Anxiety and Depression by Occupational Position
This non-linear trend in risk across the hierarchy of occupational positions may be explained by the concept of “contradictory class location” and the job strain experienced by employees in the middle and lower ranks of organizational hierarchy. Individuals, often in supervisor level positions, who are expected to implement company policy but not develop it, have higher wages/autonomy than workers but lower wages/autonomy than executives. This location within class relations is said to be contradictory because it embodies aspects of both ownership and labor.
The concept of contradictory class location emphasizes political-economic processes and dimensions of power that are not readily captured by standard Social Epidemiology measures like income and education. These findings suggest that the effects of class relations on depression and anxiety extend beyond those of socioeconomic status, pointing to under-studied mechanisms in Social Epidemiology, for example, the social processes of domination and exploitation.
The paper is being published in the journal Sociology of Health and Illness and became available online in Aug. The full paper can be downloaded from Seth Prins’ Academia.edu site.
We just posted a mix of songs on environmental issues to the Social Epi Radio section of our website. The National Institute of Environmental Health (NIEHS) states that environmental factors are fundamental determinants of health and well-being. Researchers and activists have shown that low income communities and communities of color have higher exposures to environmental pollutants and disproportionately host polluting sites such as bus depots, waste transfer sites, chemical facilities and industrial sites. This distribution of pollutants and sites represents a Justice issue because these communities carry a larger share of the environmental burden and health consequences without reaping equal economic benefits associated with the facilities.
The Journal posted an 
