TY - JOUR
T1 - Agency and subjective health from early adulthood to mid-life
T2 - evidence from the prospective Youth Development Study
AU - Mortimer, Jeylan T.
AU - Staff, Jeremy
N1 - Funding Information:
The Youth Development Study was supported by grants “Work Experience and Mental Health: A Panel Study of Youth,” from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD44138) and the National Institute of Mental Health (MH42843).
Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank Monica Kirkpatrick Johnson for her excellent comments, which helped us to improve the manuscript. The Youth Development Study was supported by grants “Work Experience and Mental Health: A Panel Study of Youth,” from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD44138) and the National Institute of Mental Health (MH42843).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - Understanding the determinants of subjective or self-rated health (SRH) is of central importance because SRH is a significant correlate of actual health as well as mortality. A large body of research has examined the correlates, antecedents, or presumed determinants of SRH, usually measured at a given time or endpoint. In the present study, we investigate whether individual mastery, a prominent indicator of agency, has a positive effect on SRH over a broad span of the life course. Drawing on longitudinal data from the Youth Development Study (n = 741), we examine the impacts of mastery on SRH over a 24-year period (from ages 21–22 to 45–46). The findings of a fixed effects analysis, controlling time-varying educational attainment, unemployment, age, obesity, serious health diagnoses, and time-constant individual differences, lead us to conclude that mastery is a stable predictor of SRH from early adulthood to mid-life. This study provides evidence that psychological resources influence individuals’ subjective assessment of their health, even when objective physical health variables and socioeconomic indicators are taken into account.
AB - Understanding the determinants of subjective or self-rated health (SRH) is of central importance because SRH is a significant correlate of actual health as well as mortality. A large body of research has examined the correlates, antecedents, or presumed determinants of SRH, usually measured at a given time or endpoint. In the present study, we investigate whether individual mastery, a prominent indicator of agency, has a positive effect on SRH over a broad span of the life course. Drawing on longitudinal data from the Youth Development Study (n = 741), we examine the impacts of mastery on SRH over a 24-year period (from ages 21–22 to 45–46). The findings of a fixed effects analysis, controlling time-varying educational attainment, unemployment, age, obesity, serious health diagnoses, and time-constant individual differences, lead us to conclude that mastery is a stable predictor of SRH from early adulthood to mid-life. This study provides evidence that psychological resources influence individuals’ subjective assessment of their health, even when objective physical health variables and socioeconomic indicators are taken into account.
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U2 - 10.1007/s44155-022-00006-0
DO - 10.1007/s44155-022-00006-0
M3 - Article
C2 - 35464883
AN - SCOPUS:85165285873
SN - 2731-0469
VL - 2
JO - Discover Social Science and Health
JF - Discover Social Science and Health
IS - 1
M1 - 2
ER -
