Table 3.
Studies examining social cognitive variables in relation to socioeconomic status (SES) and coronary heart disease (CHD)-related health behaviors
| SC variable | Author/date | Subjects | SES outcome | Behavior | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Motivational | |||||
| Attitudes (‘important to me’) | Steptoe and Wardle (1999) | 374 females, 290 males Postal survey, South London |
Education (low vs. high) | Dietary intake | Controlling for dietary attitudes reduced effect of higher education on better dietary habits to non-significance |
| Attitudes | Wardle and Griffith (2001) | 1894 males and female participants Omnibus survey, Great Britain |
Civil Service Grade | Weight control practices | Higher SES = more concerned about weight– led to weight control, perhaps leading to lower BMIs |
| Attitudes | Seccareccia et al. (1991) | 6074 Italian males 46 y.o. Postal survey |
Occupation | Smoking, physical activity, diet, blood pressure and cholesterol checks | Highest of 3 SES groups held most favorable health attitudes, smoked less, reported most leisure PA, and had BP and cholesterol checks most frequently |
| Intentions (‘motivation to change’) | Ribisl et al. (1998) | 243 Hispanic, 1786 white males (25–64 years) Stanford Five City Project, cross sectional survey |
Education | Framingham risk score (combination of age, cig/day, total cholesterol, SBP, BMI) | Lower Ed = lower change intentions, higher CVD risk Did not test for mediation |
| Human agency | |||||
| Self-efficacy | Winkleby et al. (1994) | 221 females/190 males (25–74 years) Stanford Five City Project Baseline + prospective 6 year follow up survey |
Education | Framingham risk score (combination of age, cig/day, total cholesterol, SBP, BMI) | Low SES group = lowest self-efficacy scores, lowest CHD change scores – not a mediation model |
| Self-efficacy | Ribisl et al. (1998) | 243 Hispanic, 1786 White males (25–64 years) Stanford Five City Project, cross sectional survey |
Education | Framingham risk score (combination of age, cig/day, total cholesterol, SBP, BMI) | Lower Ed = lower Self-efficacy, and higher CVD risk, but did not test for mediation |
| Self-efficacy | Manfredi et al. (2007) | 644 female smokers Path analysis examining mediators of education-smoking behavior |
Education | Smoking | Self-efficacy did not directly influence quit attempts in low SES women |
| Interpersonal | |||||
| Social norms | Manfredi et al. (1992) | 256 female smokers (18–39 years) Evaluation of a smoking cessation intervention, baseline telephone interviews |
Education | Smoking cessation | Higher ed. predictive of living in ‘cessation supporting environments’ w/fewer smokers |
| Social norms | Manfredi et al. (2007) | 644 female smokers Path analysis examining mediators of education-smoking behavior |
Education | Smoking | Social pressure to quit mediated effects of education on attempts to quit |