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Socio-Economic Status as a Fundamental Cause of Holistic Mental Health

Nousak, Samantha
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1670940352563368

Abstract Details

2023, PHD, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Sociology and Criminology.
This dissertation extends Fundamental Cause Theory (FCT) to the study of holistic mental health. Using multiple quantitative methods and data from wave three of the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study, I explore if socio-economic status (SES) can be considered a "fundamental cause" of holistic mental health. To do so, I advance four hypotheses that address each step necessary to demonstrate a fundamental cause. Results show promising evidence that FCT can be extended to predict mental illness and positive mental health outcomes and that SES can be considered a fundamental cause of holistic mental health. High SES is associated with greater holistic mental health outcomes, and there are also significant mediation effects between SES and holistic mental health through exposure to risk and protective factors. Additionally, there is mixed evidence that mediation is an emergent mechanism between high SES and greater holistic mental health and that the deployment of health resources improves holistic mental health. This represents an advancement of sociological mental health theory, serves as an exemplary study of how sociologists can investigate positive mental health inequalities, and has critical policy implications for how to best improve community mental health.
Kristen Marcussen (Advisor)
Mary Himmelstein (Other)
Manacy Pai (Committee Member)
Jennifer Taber (Committee Member)
Richard Adams (Committee Member)
Clare Stacey (Committee Member)
142 p.
Health; Health Sciences; Psychology; Public Health; Sociology
mental health; positive mental health; holistic mental health; mental illness; mental health inequalities; fundamental cause theory; fundamental cause; socio-economic status; ses

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Nousak, S. (2023). Socio-Economic Status as a Fundamental Cause of Holistic Mental Health [Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1670940352563368

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Nousak, Samantha. Socio-Economic Status as a Fundamental Cause of Holistic Mental Health. 2023. Kent State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1670940352563368.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Nousak, Samantha. "Socio-Economic Status as a Fundamental Cause of Holistic Mental Health." Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University, 2023. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1670940352563368

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1670940352563368
422
© 2022, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Socio-Economic Status as a Fundamental Cause of Holistic Mental Health by Samantha Nousak is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.