Psychobiological processes linking socio-economic position with health

Abstract

This chapter is concerned with how variations in socio-economic position affect physical disease. It begins by describing the pathways that theoretically link socio-economic position with physical disease, and by explaining the potential significance of psychobiological responses. The findings concerning psychobiological processes are organized round the primary methodologies that have been used to explore these pathways, namely animal studies, human laboratory mental stress testing, and naturalistic studies of biological function in everyday life. It is shown that there has been rapid development in this field over recent years, and that although there are still many uncertainties, we are moving into an era in which conclusions about the significance of psychobiological processes can be made with greater confidence.

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