Social Factors

A social factor can be a variety of different aspects in an individuals life that effect them on a daily basis. It ranges from the environments we encounter on a daily basis, all the way to the gender of a person and the sexuality of a person as well. What's all in between are factors such as the social class of a person and where they view themselves on the social hierarchy which relates to their view of their status and prestige, etc., their nation and neighborhood are social factors as well, race, ethnicity, or religion can be associated with social factors as well, and the social relationships we have with people on a daily basis.

Psychological, biological and genetic factors are all different in their own form, but relate to one another in a way that without one, we cannot have the other. Psychological factors are the attitudes, thoughts, and feelings we have about the social factors we encounter on a daily basis. The biological factors is the way we respond to the outside world and how we let it effect us on a daily basis. Genetic components is the hereditary components that we obtain from our parents that determine certain aspects of who we are and how we may act. The behavioral characteristics that we all possess can be determined by genetic factors.

The idea of a social factor is that everything we encounter can effect us as in individual, and can even change our perception all the way to changing the way we behave. Even though some of our behaviors are predetermined due to genetics, the environment and the way we view it can greatly impact our lives. We as people encounter numerous social factors on a daily basis, and all these encounters shape us into who we are and who we will become in the future. 

power of prayer

We are all concerned about our health in one way or another and we process it in our own individual ways. I personally have learned a new way to look at my health through a sociological way. Sociology is the study of the factors that affect us as a society through our surroundings.

 A sociological factor is an influence on our lives that comes from our surroundings. These influences are usually beyond our own control. It’s a factor that we live with every day that we probably don’t consciously recognize. It could be something as simple as the neighborhood that we grew up in, or the color of our skin or even what religion we believe in, but these things impact our health in a deep way.

 As an example people who belong to a religion statistically are healthier. Why do followers of religion have better health statistics?  One theory I have is the since of community that religious people have. Church goers as a group look out for each other and when one member of that group encounters an illness or disability the others will help them with fundraisers for monetary support and prayer for emotional support.
Kenneth Ferraro and Jerome Koch stated that Social scientist and epidemiologist have made important contributions to current knowledge about health and illness by identifying how social structures and processes are related to health and illness. Although religion has been regarded as for consequential for ones well being recent research has on the possible link between religion and health provides new evidence about how the structure of social environments can influence individual actors. Not only can religion affect the mind but emerging shows that religious beliefs and practices may affect bodily state and heath conditions more generally.(Ferraro and Koch,1994)


References

Ferraro, K. F., & Koch, J. R. (1994). Religion and Health Among Black and White Adults: examining Social Support and Consolation. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 33(4), 362. Retrieved April 24, 2013

Gender and Health

Health has many different interpretations of what the word actually means; some think that it is whether or not you are sick and others, like the World Health Organization (WHO), define it as complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or injury. There are many factors that influence a person’s health like one’s social status, religion, income, medical availability, and gender. Gender differences can have a significant impact on how one handles their health and their longevity—defined as how many years someone is expected to live.

                In 2008 the life expectancy for white women in the United States was 80.6 years, compared to the life expectancy of white men which was 75.7 years. Historically, women have always had a longer life expectancy than men (chart below shows the differences in age from, but a study that was performed in 2008 found that life expectancy had declined for 19% of the nation’s women and 4% of the nation’s men by 1.3 years or more. So why did the life expectancy for women decline so significantly? The decline was related to a few causes, like smoking, obesity, and high blood pressure.

               

                 Looking further into the causes of the decline in longevity, we will look at the increased smoking rate and deaths caused from smoking, comparing both men and women. According to the American Lung Association, in 2008 18.3% of women smoked, while 23.1% of men smoked. While men have a higher percent of people who smoke, women are 13 times more likely to die from COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), chronic bronchitis, and emphysema compared to women who never smoke. In 2009 alone, an estimated 70,490 women died of bronchus and lung cancer.

                In 2009-2010, 35.7% of adults were obese. Comparing ages, out of all women 40-59, 36% of them were obese and in the same age range 36.6% of men were obese; below shows the other percentages in relation to age.  Obesity has led to an increase of hypertension, stroke, and certain types of cancer, and type 2 diabetes. In the past two decades there has been an increase in the rates of obesity, but currently the rates are slowing or plateauing.

                 As a nation, our current diet and lack of exercise (on average) is leading to a decrease in longevity for both males and females. Here is my question to you: as a nation, what can we do to reverse this decline and start increasing life expectancy?

References:

1. Cockerham, William C. 2012. Medical Sociology, 12th Ed. Boston: Prentice Hall.

2. CDC Development Solutions. (n.d.). CDC Development Solutions. Retrieved April 24, 2013, from http://www.cdc.org

Affects of Subjective Social Status on health

What is Subjective Social Status?

To put it simply, Subjective Social Status (SSS) is an individual's own perception of his or her position in society. This perception is strongly related to a person's Socioeconomic Status (SES), which is determined by one's socioeconomic resources such as education level, occupation, and overall monetary wealth. Basically, a person's Socioeconomic Status results in different members of a given society or community being perceived and judged differently by societal/community members based on what type of job they may have, what type of money they make, and what type of education they may or may not have. Generally, the way a person forms their own ideas about their standing in society(SSS) has a lot to do with the way other members of their own community/society treat them based on their social status(SES), and if a person is has a low "SES", they will most likely percieve themselves in a way that closely resembles the label that has been placed upon them by society. 

  

What does Subjective Social Status have to do with health?

While it may seem a bit unfair and perhaps cruel that individuals are judged based on their economic "successes" or "failures", there is no questioning the fact that wealthy and well-educated people are the folks who end up with high-paying or prestigious jobs, and in turn are placed on a pedestal of sorts and are seen as being much more "valuable" to society than those without all of these things. 

On the other hand, members of society who may not have absurd amounts of wealth or incredibly prestigious and well-respected jobs are obviously seen as being less valuable. So how exactly does a person's "SSS" and "SES" contribute to their health status? There are actually many variables involved here, but the most basic and obvious factor has to do with the amount of wealth an individual has. For example, a person with a low-paying job may not always be able to shell out the amount of money that it takes to follow nutritional guidelines, opting instead to grab something off of the McDonald's dollar menu as a cheaper alternative. Furthermore, when these cheeseburgers finally start to catch up to our theoretical person, how will they be able to pay for the extensive hospital bills that will result in their rapidly hardening arterial walls? The sad fact of the matter is that the people with the money and the prestige are the ones who will have a much easier time accessing quality medical care should the need arise. Last time I checked, minimum-wage positions don't usually provide great medical coverage. 

Obviously, there are many ways that a person's Socioeconomic Status can have a large impact on that person's health, and as we have seen these factors are largely dependent on the amount of money or prestige a person has. Unfortunately, that is not the full extent of the possible negative impacts on health that can result from perceived social status. The way an individual perceives him/herself can also be just as damaging, believe it or not. Just think about it for a moment. If you work a dead-end job, have a limited education, and are constantly being reminded by society how low you are positioned on the totem pole while struggling to make rent and keep your lights on, how might you feel? According to the article we discussed in class regarding a study done on the affects of "SSS" on health, people who have a negative perception of their own "SSS" are more likely to develop health problems such as hypertension, depression, diabetes, and high cholesterol, and other diseases and disabilities(Breeze, Demakakos, Marmot, Nazroo 2008). When looking at all of these factors, it seems clear that "SES" and "SSS" can have a huge impact on health, and hopefully as our society grows and moves forward more people will begin to look more closely at social factors when it comes to the health and well-being of the people within it. So, my friends... what do you think about the importance of societal factors such as SES and SSS when it comes to health? Might things change with the emergence of new healthcare options in the United States?

Sources: Demakakos,P., Nazroo,J., Breeze,E., Marmut,M. (2008). Socioeconomic status and health: the role of subjective social status. Soc Sci Med. 2008 July; 67(2) : 330-340

Is the bra causing health issues?

What is a social factor?  Why would a social factor affect someone’s health? 

          

  Social factors are anything that influences human behavior.   For example; the fashion trend is a social factor. The type of clothes you wear changes with the view of society.    How a person picks their friends are a social factor. Friends change with the many changes a person goes through during the different life cycles. Your Religion is a social factor. Religion dictates what acceptable behavior is and what is not acceptable. Social factors are anything that has to do with how you present yourself to others. 

            

Why would a social factor affect someone’s health?  Religion can be a great influence on mental health.   Side by side, a person who is not religious might have depression more often than a person who receives the sense of belonging and social support the church provides.  Having friends act similarly.  If your friends are supportive and understanding, your mental health will be much better than if you chose friends that were constantly pulling you down, talking you into doing things that could be harmful, or illegal. 

           

 There's always more than one side of things to consider when looking at how social factors affect one’s health.  Take fashion for instance.  One might ask how what we wear and what we look like affects the health. 

         

   It is a social norm that women wear certain garments in public.  It is women who wear high heels to make themselves feel and look more appealing.  It is also more likely that they will fall down and hurt themselves because of these types of shoes.  So, it is a choice that women wear high heels.  It is not required, and it is not frowned upon if they don’t wear high heels.  What is frowned upon, however, are when women are in public without wearing undergarments; specifically the bra.  The question now is, do women wear bras for medical reasons, meaning to help support the breast, or does the bra help deter breast cancer?  Or is the bra used for sexual attraction and every day appearances.

Picture number 1

picture number 2

     

           Some new research shows the complete opposite.

“Bras do nothing to help support a woman’s breasts and could even be causing damage, research has found…  Professor Rouillon said: “Medically, physiologically and anatomically, breasts gain no benefit from being denied gravity.’…The study found that breasts were firmer and sagged less in the women who did not wear a bra, and such women were no more likely than others to suffer from back pain…Professor Rouillon suggested that breasts become “dependent” on lingerie support once women start wearing it, meaning that supporting muscle is under-used and degrades more quickly…Some of the women who took part in the experiment, carried out at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (University Hospital) in Besançon, said stopping wearing a bra had even helped ease back pains."  (http://www.yenghana.com/tag/professor-jean-denis-rouillon/)

Who would have thought that the bra was damaging.  But if it is thought about, any other muscle in the body that is not used starts to atrophy, so why wouldn't the breast muscle as well?  From that point of view, it makes sense.  So what social factor keeps us from not wearing the bra? It might be the fact that the study was only done on 18- 35 year old women?  It is probably because we, as a society expect women to wear the supporting device and if they choose not to, then they become labeled as a not so nice of a person; which then brings on other medically sociological effects. 

            In our society, it is a must to wear our underwear.  Whether it has medical reasons or not, if one chooses not to wear them, it could cause other medical implications that would not happen if one would just put some underwear on!

References:

Yen Ghana.http://www.yenghana.com/tag/professor-jean-denis-rouillon/.  Retrived 4/23/2013. 

Picture 1: Annaharborchronical.com/ Google images

Picture 2: Emmaloiuselayla.com/ Google images

Social Factors In Teen Drinking

Sociology is the study of development, structure, and functioning of human society, which is focusing on an entire group, not just an individual. There are many topics under sociology, but I am choosing to discuss one of the many topics, social factors. Social factors are things, people, places, or events that influence a person’s behavior. A social factor can be things such as employment, education, marital status, and religion.

 Like sociology, there are also two categories under social factor, social location and social institution. Social location is a group in which many individuals can be involved in. For example, some social locations that I would be involved in are being a student, a daughter, an aunt, being employed and so on. A social institution is anything that would be involved within an entire community. These are things that make a community all come together in order for the community to function as a whole. A social institution could be things such as a grocery store, law enforcement, a bank, schools, and a church and so on.

My reasoning for choosing social factors in teen drinking as my topic was because of how common teen drinking is. In the article “Teenage Drinking and The Onset of Alcohol Dependence” the researchers did a study of a community sample of just around two thousand individuals from ages 14-21 years old. They found that “Approximately 90% of participants consumed alcohol by age 20.” (Bonomo) Because teen drinking is such a common occurrence, there are many graphs to show different results such as this one:

Photo courtesy of: Teen Drug and Alcohol Use Headed in Wrong Direction

There are many reasons in which teens decide to start drinking underage. I came up with three reasons that I believe would impact teens on their decision to drink. These reasons were peer pressure, things individuals see in movies/TV/public etc, and family history.  I believe that whether teens have parents that allow them to drink at their house will increase the rate of that individuals drinking because the parent is basically telling them that it is fine to drink. Thomas C. Harford, Danielle L. Spiegler state in the journal Developmental Trends of Adolescent Drinking “The majority of adolescents drink both at home and in peer settings”. Peer pressure can also effect teen drinking depending on who these individuals are involved with. Sadly, a lot of individuals get pressured into doing things they do not want to do. Teens typically watch a lot of reality TV and movies that are not appropriate for their age. Seeing these things can definitely influence these individuals to do the smoking, and drinking they see in films and television shows.

Another thing that I believe could impact a teen’s curiosity of drinking would be the roles that they have. Each society or groups have certain expectations of what you should and shouldn’t do in that society. Some groups may have a role strain which is an overload of roles that an individual is taking on at one time. Norms could also be a factor because they are everyday rules that can be broken, but some individuals may judge you for what you have done.

Why do you think teens decide to drink? When did you take your first drink and why did you decided to take it?

Resources:

                     

Bonomo, Yvonne A., Glenn Bowers, Carolyn Coffey, and John B. Carlin. Teenage drinking and the onset of alcohol dependence: a cohort study over seven years. N.p.: n.p., 2004. N. pag. Web.

Harford, Thomas C., and Danielle L. Spiegler. Developmental Trends of Adolescent Drinking. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2013. Harford, Thomas C., and Danielle L. Spiegler. Developmental Trends of Adolescent Drinking. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2013.

Social Factors College Students Face

Our attitudes, personality and behaviors are affected by what is called social factors. Better described as persons, places and/or things that affects our health. Listed below is a few social factors that college students’ face:
 0 Eating habits
 Stress
 Alcohol and smoking
 Financial burdens
 New and unfamiliar living conditions
 New friends and less family support

 In researching the social factors that college students face, and the health risks involved, I found that eating habits, lack of exercise and unhealthy ways to reduce stress were very important to notice and that there were simple and inexpensive ways that students can improve their health habits. Each bullet point listed above can be turned to a positive factor if turned around just a bit. Poor diet habits are the most influential factor leading to weight gain. These poor habits also affect fatigue, moodiness and clear thinking. At many colleges, late night eating is sometimes the only source of entertainment, especially in a small community such as Klamath Falls. College life also tends do be time consuming and students find it much easier to grab a quick snack from the vending machine rather than wake early and eat a balanced breakfast. There many late nights preparing for tests, which increase the likely hood of energy drinks and fast food. Alcohol, which is high in calories can also attribute to weight gain and is merely a temporary fix to forgetting about school for a while. When a student is not eating right, partying with friends and stressed out from homework and tests, they find a decreased desire to exercise properly which if turned around would probably be the better way to relieve the stress that many students are facing. Family support is decreased in many situations and new friends and on campus residence life is another new factor that a college student could be faced with. This can be somewhat anticipated and exciting but it also brings along additional stress and habits that are sometimes negative when it comes to health. For instance if there are many sharing an apartment from the college, the risk is increased for mononucleosis, meningitis and the flu. The good news is that many colleges are implementing a healthier cafeteria menu along with resources on campus that are available to students. Some of these resources are health center access, school websites with positive health tips and incentives along with financial and well-being counseling. A student writing for Longwood University writes “With motivation and the resources to maintain a healthy diet and exercise regularly, students are more likely to remain healthy on a college campus. These resources are necessary because college is usually the first time that students are living on their own for an extended period of time and are therefore developing habits that could possibly carry over into their years after college, and maybe the rest of their life. Thus, it is important that they are able to develop daily motivation to eat healthy and exercise regularly” (livestrong.com) Below is a video created by college students that wanted to share some ideas to live a healthier lifestyle on campus.

 Attending college is one of life’ s most memorable moments and can significantly affect the future you may have for employment as well as your socio economic status later in life. Most would say that attending college is a positive experience and that if a person is able to take this opportunity, it is almost always in their best interest. However, being a college student comes with health risks that would maybe be lessened if a student were to take advantage of college resources available to them to improve their health and begin lifelong healthier habits. 

 References;
 Problems college students face when they don't exercise. (2013, March 24). In livestrong.com. Retrieved  April 23, 2013, from http://www.livestrong.com/article/154524-problems-college-students-face-when-they-dont-exercise

Socioeconomic status (SES) and health

  Social factors are something that can influence someone’s behavior.  Variables like the area in which they live, gender, race, and socioeconomic status.  Socioeconomic status is “an individual's or group's position within a hierarchical social structure” (socioeconomic 2013). SES is considered a social factor because it is something that affects a person’s actions or behaviors.  Socioeconomic status is based on if a person has or doesn’t have money, knowledge, status power, and social connections (Cockerham 2012, 64).  Occupation, education, income, wealth, and place of residence are all different variables that define a person’s SES.  All of these variables that define someone’s socioeconomic status also play a role in their health.  SES was thought to be a contributing factor to poor health and mortality; now SES is a “fundamental cause” of mortality (Cockerham 2012, 64).

There are two main SES; people can either have a high SES or a low SES. People of higher SES tend to have more money and live in a good environment.  Being part of higher SES has a trickle effect; the people live in better neighborhoods because they have good paying jobs. Higher SES people tend to eat better because they can afford healthier food, which leads to being healthier in general.  In result People of higher SES live longer, and suffer less from disability.

 People with lower SES usually don’t have a nice neighborhood to live in. Most low-income neighborhoods have more crime.  Since the neighborhoods are more dangerous people would be less likely to go outside and exercise. They also don’t have as good job opportunities as the higher SES people.  The result of not having very good jobs means they don’t have much money to buy good healthy food, which causes those of lower SES to die younger and suffer a greater burden of disease and disability.

The graph below is showing the life expectancy for male social security-covered workers (age 60).  The graph basically says that males who have a higher income life expectancy is seen to be longer then those who have lower income. The first two bars are the bottom half of earning distributions from 1972 and 2001.  The bottom half earnings in 1972 were seen to have a life expectancy of 77.7 years.  In 2001 the life expectancy for the lower half earnings as well was 79.6 years.  The other two bars are the top half of earning distributions from 1972 and 2001.  In 1972 male’s life expectancy was about 78.9 years for the higher income, and in 2001 the life expectancy was 85.4 years for the higher income also.

So I leave you with this: do you think that this will ever change? Will lower SES people live longer then higher SES people at anytime?

References

1. Cockerham, William C. 2012. Medical Sociology, 12th Ed. Boston:   Prentice Hall.

2. Socioeconomic status. (n.d.). The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. Retrieved April 22, 2013, from Dictionary.com retrieved from       http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/socioeconomic status

Sickness and Mortality in Socioeconomic Status

According to the American Psychology Association, socioeconomic status (SES) is the measurement of a person’s education, income, and occupation ("Socioeconomic status," 2013).

A person’s SES can affect many aspects of their life, especially their health. The socioeconomic status of a person can determine whether a person is able to access health insurance that will cover enough of the medical bills or whether they have access to decent medical care. A person who is in the lower SES may be employed but the company they work for does not offer health insurance and payments cost more than that person makes monthly which makes the person unable to afford health insurance. A person who is in the higher SES will most likely get their health insurance offered through their company with a discount and will have access to higher quality health care due to their income.

According to Medical Sociology by William C. Cockerham, “SES is a ‘fundamental cause’ of mortality. This is an important proposition because most researchers in the past viewed SES as a factor contributing to poor health and mortality, not as direct cause” (64). The research that was done states that to be a cause of illness and death, it must “1. Influence multiple diseases; 2. Affect these diseases through multiple pathways of risks; 3. Be reproduced over time; and 4. Involve access to resources that can be used to avoid risks or minimize the consequences of diseases if it occurs” (64). When living in the lower SES, there is less access to health care and prevention to disease which causes multiple other diseases or pathways to influence other diseases.

In the image below is a graph of education, which leads to income and job status. The graph compares the education level and job skill level to age of life expectancy of England and Wales. Although the women tended to out lived the men; the higher the education, job level, and income level the higher life expectancy.
 
Image courteous of UK Parliament ("2 health," 2009)

 Why do you believe that people with higher SES will out-live the lower SES?

 References

Cockerham, W. C. (2012). Medical sociology. (12 ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
 2 health inequalities - extent, causes, and policies to tackle them . (2009, March 15). Retrieved from http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmselect/cmhealth/286/28605.htm
Socioeconomic status. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/topics/socioeconomic-status/

Social Factors

A Social Factor is something that affects your attitudes and behaviors. These things can be the environment, neighborhood, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, stress and social relationships. These things are different than psychological, genetic or biological factors because these are the things around you, not inside you. These are the factors in the world around you that make you think the way you do and do the things you do. Social Factors are also broken up into two categories. These are Social institutions and Social location. A Social institution is something that every community has such as schools, medical building, police, government, churches, marriage and media. A Social location would be something personally that I share with someone else, such as, my age, race, marital status, education, major, hair color, eye color, religion and hobbies.

A Social location can affect your health more extremely than you thought. Race, age and marital status have an effect on your health and well being. Being married usually makes you healthier than the general population because you are more likely to eat healthy and be more active because another person depends on you. The reason why Race affects your health is because some diseases are more prominent in blacks as opposed to whites. This could lead to you having more or less medical problems or psychological problems. Age has an effect on your health because it is known that the older you are the more likely you are to get diseases and cancers. 

  The place you live whether it is rural or urban can also depend on your health. This is because you either have more or less access to necessary things to survive adequately. Living in a wealthy urban area will also increase your likelihood of good health because you have a cleaner environment and better health care access. "There are not enough doctors in rural areas to effectively treat these sparse populations. In Minnesota, there are five counties without a single primary care provider. That means rural people have to travel farther for treatment, especially when it comes to specialty treatment” (Peters and Vogel, 2011). When people live in poor rural areas it is more likely that diseases will spread and that you will have more stress which increases your risk of bad health.

Why do we have Medical Sociology, because it helps us see people as whole and to see why people’s health is the way it is. Medical Sociology helps us to figure out why people in a certain area have a certain disease or chronic illness. It also helps us to stop the disease and chronic illness from happening elsewhere. This field will help us to prevent things in the future.

References:
Cockerham, William C. 2012. Medical Sociology, 12th Ed. Boston: Prentice Hall.
Peters, David, and Jennifer Vogel. "Rural Health Care in Minnesota: A Primer." MPR News. N.p., June-July 2011. Web. 23 Apr. 2013. (Got picture from here also)

Social Factors and Smoking

When trying to determine why a group of people acts a specific way, there are multiple approaches to researching the cause.  While psychologists might examine the mental health, history, or environment of the individuals within the group, sociologists would study the group itself.  They study groups of people who share similar characteristics with each other.  They research a variety of different social factors, which are the influences of groups and the society that influence behavior.  Social factors include the social location of an individual—characteristics that are unique to the person—and social institutions, which are the organizational structure of society.  Examples of categories that make up the social location of a person include gender, race, age, religion, marital status, employment, and other similar traits.  Social institutions are systems such as laws, education, the media, churches, and the economy in a given area. 

In medical sociology specifically, sociologists examine these social factors and how they influence health. 

After reading the example post, I wondered if there was a correlation between race and cigarette smoking, and if there was, exactly what that relationship looked like.  I also wondered what some outcomes (other than purely physical, such as developing lung cancer) of smoking would be.

In a study researching adolescent cigarette use in different races by Fred Pampel, he states that African Americans are much less likely to smoke during their teen years than whites.  However, adult African Americans smoke at a slightly higher rate than white adults.  The National Health Interview Survey in 2005 showed that whites between the ages of 40 and 59 smoked at a rate of 23.8% while 25.9% of African Americans smoke at the same age.  The article claims (and is no doubt correct) that socioeconomic status plays a definite role, with higher rates of smoking occurring with lower education, occupation, and income levels.  In addition, it asserts that people from lower socioeconomic status have a more difficult time with quitting smoking than do those from higher status.  Why?  While people from both groups may have the desire to stop, those from higher socioeconomic status have more resources (money, opportunities for counseling, nicotine replacements) from which they can draw.

This is a table that was included in the study, which I found interesting.  The high rates of white female smoking surprised me, and it would be interesting to learn more about why that part of the population has such a high rate.

While I was doing more research, I found another bit of information that I had not known before: that smoking can cause depression.  Whether or not depression leads to smoking remains controversial; however, a study by Elizabeth Goodman and John Capitman found that smoking does cause depression.  It also confirmed previous studies that people who are African American or another race are “protective from becoming a heavy smoker,” but are also at greater risk for developing depression.  In addition, this study linked other social factors to be influential in both the development of smoking and depression.  “Although potential genetic and family environment influences on development of depression in adolescents have been stressed, several of the social and psychological risk factors for tobacco use have also been implicated in the development of depression, including low socioeconomic status, poor school performance, low self-esteem, stressful life events, and conduct disorders.”  Essentially, social risk factors that have been considered to increase the likelihood of smoking also increase the likelihood of developing depression.

References:

1. Cockerham, William C. 2012. Medical Sociology, 12th Ed. Boston: Prentice Hall.

2. Goodman, E. (2000). Depressive Symptoms and Cigarette Smoking Among Teens. Pediatrics, 106(4), 748.

3. Pampel, Fred C. "Racial convergence in cigarette use from adolescence to the mid-thirties." The Journal of Health and Social Behavior 49.4 (2008): 484+. Health Reference Center Academic. Web. 15 Apr. 2013.