Men Of High Socioeconomic Status Research Articles

Emergency remote instruction in 2020: Differential impacts on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics students’ confidence and belonging, by gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status

The COVID-19 pandemic forced higher education into emergency remote instruction in 2020. Impacts of this modality shift on undergraduates of different identities are important to document, for both current students who need support now and future students who may face other crises. A large survey in the United States asked students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to report the impact of emergency remote instruction on their confidence to succeed and sense of belonging in STEM. Using those data, we find that the impact varies by gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (SES). For instance, 63.3% of lower SES women identifying as underrepresented racial/ethnic minorities (URM) reported a decrease in their confidence to succeed, compared to 38.9% of non-URM, higher SES men who reported a decrease. On the other hand, 35.3% of URM, lower SES men reported that emergency remote instruction increased their sense of belonging, compared to 15.9% of non-URM, higher SES women. The large percentage reporting increased belonging was unexpected and adds to calls for more research into the experiences of URM men. Our results suggest researchers, instructors, and administrators working to mitigate shocks to higher education must consider multiple identities and take an intersectional view, because impacts of these crises are not neutral with respect to gender, race/ethnicity, and SES.

HIV self-testing may overcome stigma and other barriers to HIV testing among higher-socioeconomic status men in Botswana: A qualitative study

In Botswana, HIV prevalence is 20.3% among those between 15 and 49 years old, and in sub-Saharan Africa, higher income has been associated with increased HIV risk. We qualitatively explored barriers to HIV testing and acceptability of HIV self-testing (HIVST) among higher socio-economic status (SES) men in Botswana. Twenty higher SES men (10 tested, 10 not tested recently) participated in semi-structured interviews and 10 men participated in asynchronous online focus groups (FGs) about HIV testing barriers and HIVST acceptability. Results indicated that stigma, inconvenience and perceived lack of confidentiality were barriers to HIV testing, as were masculinity-related concerns (e.g. fear of losing status if they accessed testing or were found to be HIV positive). Men said that HIVST reduced barriers to testing and that test kits could be placed in public spaces for pick-up and used in private. Overall, HIVST was seen as acceptable and feasible among higher SES men in Botswana.

Independent markers of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in a gentrifying population-based Chinese cohort.

Prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is increasing in developing countries, but its causes are not known. We aimed to ascertain the prevalence and determinants of NAFLD in a new largely unmedicated population-based cohort from the rapidly gentrifying region of Pinggu, China. We randomized cluster sampled 4002 Pinggu residents aged 26 to 76years. Data from 1238 men and 1928 women without significant alcohol drinking or hepatitis virus B or C infection were analysed. NAFLD was defined using a liver-spleen ratio (L/S ratio) ≤1.1 on unenhanced abdominal computed tomography (CT) scanning. Of men and women, 26.5% and 20.1%, respectively, had NAFLD. NAFLD prevalence was highest in younger men and older women. In multivariate logistic regression models, higher body mass index, waist circumference, serum triglyceride, alanine transaminase, and haemoglobin A1c independently increased the odds of NAFLD in both men and women separately. Higher annual household income and systolic blood pressure for men and higher serum uric acid and red meat intake and lower physical activity levels for women also independently associated with higher odds of NAFLD. Individuals with L/S ratio ≤1.1 had linearly increasing rates of obesity, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome that paralleled fatty liver increase. NAFLD is common in a gentrifying Chinese population particularly in younger men of high socioeconomic status and older women with sedentary behaviour who eat red meat. Demographic factors add independent risk of NAFLD above traditional metabolic risk factors. A CT L/S ratio of ≤1.1 identifies individuals at high risk of metabolic disease.

Educational Attainment Better Protects African American Women than African American Men Against Depressive Symptoms and Psychological Distress.

Background: Recent research has shown smaller health effects of socioeconomic status (SES) indicators such as education attainment for African Americans as compared to whites. However, less is known about diminished returns based on gender within African Americans. Aim: To test whether among African American men are at a relative disadvantage compared to women in terms of having improved mental health as a result of their education attainment. This study thus explored gender differences in the association between education attainment and mental health, using a representative sample of American adults. Methods: The National Survey of American Life (NSAL; 2003) recruited 3570 African American adults (2299 females and 1271 males). The dependent variables were depressive symptoms and psychological distress. The independent variable was education attainment. Race was the focal moderator. Age, employment status, and marital status were covariates. Linear regressions were used for data analysis. Results: In the pooled sample that included both male and female African American adults, high education attainment was associated with lower depressive symptoms and psychological distress, net of covariates. Significant interactions were found between gender and education attainment with effects on depressive symptoms and psychological distress, suggesting stronger protective effects of high education attainment against depressive symptoms and psychological distress for female as compared to male African Americans. Conclusion: A smaller gain in mental health with respect to educational attainment for male African American males as compared to African American females is in line with studies showing high risk of depression in African American men of high-socioeconomic status. High-SES African American men need screening for depression and psychological distress.

Prevalence and sociodemographic correlates of metabolic syndrome in school-aged children and their parents in nine Mesoamerican countries.

To ascertain the prevalence and sociodemographic correlates of cardiometabolic risk factors in adults and school-aged children from Mesoamerica. Cross-sectional study with convenience sampling. In adults, metabolic syndrome was defined according to the National Cholesterol Education Program's Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) criteria. In children, we calculated a continuous sex- and age-standardized metabolic risk score using variables corresponding to adult ATP III criteria. Metabolic syndrome prevalence in adults and risk score distribution in children were compared across levels of sociodemographic characteristics with use of Poisson and linear regression, respectively. Capital cities of Guatemala, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Costa Rica, the Mexican State of Chiapas (Tuxtla Gutiérrez city) and Belize. Families (n 267), comprising one child aged 7-12 years and their biological parents. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 37·9 % among women and 35·3 % among men. The most common component was low HDL cholesterol, 83·3 % in women and 78·9 % in men. Prevalence was positively associated with age. In women, metabolic syndrome was inversely related to education level whereas in men it was positively associated with household food security and height, after adjustment. The metabolic risk score in children was inversely related to parental height, and positively associated with height-for-age and with having parents with the metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is highly prevalent in Mesoamerica. The burden of metabolic risk factors disproportionately affects women and children of lower socio-economic status and men of higher socio-economic status.

Understanding the Relationships between Gender Inequitable Behaviours, Childhood Trauma and Socio-Economic Status in Single and Multiple Perpetrator Rape in Rural South Africa: Structural Equation Modelling.

BackgroundInterventions to prevent rape perpetration must be designed to address its drivers. This paper seeks to extend understanding of drivers of single and multiple perpetrator rape (referred to here as SPR and MPR respectively) and the relationships between socio-economic status, childhood trauma, peer pressure, other masculine behaviours and rape.Method1370 young men aged 15 to 26 were interviewed as part of the randomised controlled trial evaluation of Stepping Stones in the rural Eastern Cape. We used multinomial to compare the characteristics of men who reported rape perpetration at baseline. We used structural equation modelling (SEM) to examine pathways to rape perpetration.Results76.1% of young men had never raped, 10.0% had perpetrated SPR and 13.9% MPR. The factors associated with both MPR and SPR (compared to never having raped) were indicators of socio-economic status (SES), childhood trauma, sexual coercion by a woman, drug and alcohol use, peer pressure susceptibility, having had transactional sex, multiple sexual partners and being physically violent towards a partner. The SEM showed the relationship between SES and rape perpetration to be mediated by gender inequitable masculinity. It was complex as there was a direct path indicating that SES correlated with the masculinity variable directly such that men of higher SES had more gender inequitable masculinities, and indirect path mediated by peer pressure resistance indicated that the former pertained so long as men lacked peer pressure resistance. Having a higher SES conveyed greater resistance for some men. There was also a path mediated through childhood trauma, such that men of lower SES were more likely to have a higher childhood trauma exposure and this correlated with a higher likelihood of having the gender inequitable masculinity (with or without the mediating effect of peer pressure resistance).DiscussionBoth higher and lower socio-economic status were associated with raping. Prevention of rape perpetration must focus on changing men’s gender ideals, entitlements and inequitable practices. Reducing poverty and adverse childhood experiences should also be of benefit.

Tobacco use, smoking quit rates, and socioeconomic patterning among men and women: a cross-sectional survey in rural Andhra Pradesh, India

Tobacco use is common in India and a majority of users are in rural areas. We examine tobacco use and smoking quit rates along gender and socioeconomic dimensions in rural Andhra Pradesh. Data come from a cross-sectional survey. Markers of socioeconomic status (SES) were education, occupation, and income. Regression analyses were undertaken to examine determinants of current smoking, smoking quit rates, tobacco use by type (cigarettes, bidis, and chewing), and quantity consumed (number per day, pack-years). The weighted prevalence of current smoking and tobacco chewing was higher in men (50.3%, 95% confidence interval, CI, 48.1-52.6 and 5.0%, 95% CI 4.1-5.9, respectively) compared with women (4.8%, 95% CI 3.9-5.7 and 1.0%, 95% CI 0.6-1.4, respectively) and higher among older age groups. The quit rate was higher in women (45.5%, 95% CI 38.7-52.2) compared to men (18.8%, 95% CI 16.7-20.9). Illiterate individuals were more likely to be current smokers of any type compared to those with secondary/higher education (odds ratio, OR, 3.25, 95% CI 2.54-4.16), although cigarette smoking was higher in men of high SES. Smoking quit rates were positively associated with SES (OR 2.56, 95% CI 1.76-3.71) for secondary/higher education vs. illiterates. Level of consumption increased with SES and those with secondary/higher education smoked an additional 1.93 (95% CI 1.08-2.77) cigarettes or bidis per day and had an additional 1.87 (95% CI 0.57-3.17) pack-years vs. illiterates. The social gradients in cigarette smoking and level of consumption contrasted those for indigenous forms of tobacco (bidi smoking and chewing). International prevention and cessation initiatives designed at modifying Western-style cigarette usage will need to be tailored to the social context of rural Andhra Pradesh to effectively influence the use of cigarettes and equally harmful indigenous forms of tobacco.

The Ancestral Logic of Politics

Over human evolutionary history, upper-body strength has been a major component of fighting ability. Evolutionary models of animal conflict predict that actors with greater fighting ability will more actively attempt to acquire or defend resources than less formidable contestants will. Here, we applied these models to political decision making about redistribution of income and wealth among modern humans. In studies conducted in Argentina, Denmark, and the United States, men with greater upper-body strength more strongly endorsed the self-beneficial position: Among men of lower socioeconomic status (SES), strength predicted increased support for redistribution; among men of higher SES, strength predicted increased opposition to redistribution. Because personal upper-body strength is irrelevant to payoffs from economic policies in modern mass democracies, the continuing role of strength suggests that modern political decision making is shaped by an evolved psychology designed for small-scale groups.

Leisure-Time Physical Activity in Midlife Is Related to Old Age Frailty

There are scarce studies of the long-term associations between leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) in midlife and phenotypic frailty in old age. We studied healthy Caucasian men of high socioeconomic status (N = 514), who had participated in health checkups during the 1960s (the Helsinki Businessmen Study, Finland). In 1974, they were examined with questionnaires and clinical examinations, and LTPA was collapsed into three categories: low (n = 87), moderate (n = 256), and high (n = 171). In 2000, at mean age of 74, survivors were assessed for physical activity and frailty phenotype using the modified Fried criteria validated in our cohort. Four criteria were used: (a) weight loss > 5% from midlife or current body mass index < 21kg/m(2), (b) physical inactivity, (c) low vitality, and (d) physical weakness. Responders with 3-4, 1-2, and zero criteria were classified as frail, prefrail, and nonfrail, respectively. The prevalence of frailty was 16.1%, 10.2%, and 4.7% in the low, moderate, and high LTPA groups, respectively. Higher midlife LTPA was significantly related to lower prevalence of both frailty and prefrailty in old age. After adjusting for baseline age, smoking, body mass index, blood pressure, and alcohol, the risk of frailty was 80% lower in the high LTPA group compared with the low LTPA group (odds ratio = 0.20; 95% confidence interval 0.07-0.55). This finding was supported by the relationships between the change of physical activity and frailty in old age. In this socioeconomically homogenous male cohort, higher physical activity since midlife was strongly associated with less frailty in old age.

A prospective study of socioeconomic status, prostate cancer screening and incidence among men at high risk for prostate cancer

Higher socioeconomic status (SES) men are at higher risk of prostate cancer (PCa) diagnosis, an association commonly interpreted as a function of higher rates of prostate screening among higher SES men. However, the extent to which screening explains this association has not been well quantified. Within a Detroit area cohort of 6,692 men followed up after a benign prostate procedure, a case-control study was conducted of 494 PCa cases and controls matched on age, race, duration of follow-up, and date of initial benign finding; 2000 Census data were used in a principal component analysis to derive a single factor, labeled the neighborhood SES index (NSESI), representing zip code-level SES. Among cases, higher SES was associated with a younger age at initial biopsy: -1.48 years (95 % CI, -2.32, -0.64) per unit NSESI. After adjustment for confounders and duration of follow-up, higher SES was associated with more PSA tests and DRE during follow-up; 9 % (95 % CI, 2, 16) and 8 % (95 % CI, 1, 15) more respectively, per unit NSESI. Higher SES was associated with a higher risk of PCa diagnosis during follow-up, multivariable adjusted OR = 1.26 per unit increase in NSESI (95 % CI, 1.04, 1.49). Further adjustment for screening frequency somewhat reduced the association between SES and PCa risk (OR = 1.19 per unit NSESI, 95 % CI, 0.98, 1.44). Differences in screening frequency only partially explained the association between higher zip code SES and PCa risk; other health care-related factors should also be considered as explanatory factors.

A critical analysis of the reported association between vasectomy and frontotemporal dementia

those men of lower socioeconomic status; these men may thus be less likely to receive specialized medical care. Men of higher socioeconomic status may be more likely to receive a correct diagnosis of PPA in a specialized center. This population is also more likely to undergo a vasectomy. Furthermore, men with vasectomies generally have several children, and therefore may be more likely to be brought in by family for early signs or symptoms of dementia, thus facilitating the correct diagnosis of a rare disorder such as PPA. THE ROLE OF MISCLASSIFICATION BIAS Misclassification bias is a common challenge for retrospective epidemiological studies. In this study, the PPA subjects are more likely to have been placed in the incorrect classification of occurrence of vasectomy than are the control subjects. It would seem likely that the control group of mentally intact individuals, who are generally well educated and motivated to volunteer for a study would more accurately recount vasectomy occurrence in comparison to a patient with dementia. The PPA group had a similar educational level, but education level of the corroborating partners was not controlled. Due to the small sample size of the study, misclassification of even a small numberofsubjectscouldsignificantlyimpacttheapparentassociation of PPA with vasectomy. Although in this study the possibility of misclassification was reduced by partner verification, it may still play a role due to the mental impairment of the subjects and retrospective nature of determining vasectomy status performed several decades earlier.

The ancestral logic of politics: Upper body strength regulates men’s assertion of self-interest over economic redistribution

Over human evolutionary history, upper body strength has been a major component of fighting ability. Evolutionary models of animal conflict predict that actors with greater fighting ability will more actively attempt to acquire or defend resources than less formidable contestants. Here, we apply these models to political decision-making about redistribution of income and wealth among modern humans. In studies conducted in Argentina, Denmark and the U.S., men with greater upper body strength more strongly endorsed the self-beneficial position: Among men of lower socioeconomic status (SES), strength predicted increased support for redistribution; among men of higher SES, strength predicted increased opposition to redistribution. As personal upper body strength is irrelevant to payoffs from economic policies in modern mass democracies, the continuing role of strength suggests that modern political decision-making is shaped by an evolved psychology designed for small-scale groups.

Men of Higher Socioeconomic Status Have Improved Outcomes After Radical Prostatectomy for Localized Prostate Cancer

We sought to evaluate the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) on the likelihood of undergoing radical prostatectomy (RP) or external beam radiation therapy (XRT) and the ensuing effect on cancer-specific survival (CSS) after treatment for men with low-risk prostate cancer. Using the California Cancer Registry database, we identified 123,953 men diagnosed with localized, Gleason ≤7 prostate cancer from 1996 to 2005. Patients were separated into quintiles based on socioeconomic status and were stratified by race, age, year of diagnosis, and treatment. Logistic regression and Kaplan-Meier analyses were used to determine the likelihood of undergoing RP or XRT and cancer-specific survival. In the final cohort, 39,234 patients (31.7%) and 42,431 patients (34.3%) underwent RP and XRT as initial therapy. Men of lower SES were less likely to undergo RP or XRT. Men undergoing RP in the lowest SES were twice as likely to die of prostate cancer (HR 1.99, 95% CI 1.28-3.09, P = .002) than men in the highest SES. This difference was even more profound when adjusted for race (HR 2.20, 95% CI 1.38-3.50, P = .001). Similarly, men in the lowest SES who underwent XRT were also approximately twice as likely to die of prostate cancer (HR 2.24, 95% CI 1.71-2.94, P <.001) than men of the highest SES, regardless of race. Men of lower SES are less likely to undergo RP or XRT for the management of localized prostate cancer. After RP or XRT, men of lower SES have a decreased cancer-specific survival compared with men of higher SES.

Sex differences in asking for counselling and psychological support from a therapeutic center (A.P.P.A.C.)

Conclusions More specifically, results indicated that women tend to seek counselling mostly for themselves and secondary for a family member: women aged 25-35 want to deal with personal problems, women aged 35-45 seek for counselling (mostly relationship-based), while women aged 4565 mainly wish to resolve problems with their children. On the other hand, men aged 30-50 years usually require counselling when their symptoms seem to disable them to successfully function in their workplace. Men over 50 years old ask for counselling in order to resolve a problem concerning their children. These men usually end their sessions when symptoms become less severe, while women are found to be more consistent towards therapy. Finally, as far as their socioeconomic status is concerned research results indicated that men of high socioeconomic status do not easily accept that they need counselling, while women of high socioeconomic status are more receptive towards counselling. from International Society on Brain and Behaviour: 3rd International Congress on Brain and Behaviour Thessaloniki, Greece. 28 November – 2 December 2007

Anger is associated with subclinical atherosclerosis in low SES but not in higher SES men and women. The Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study

We investigated the associations of anger and cynicism with carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) and whether these associations were moderated by childhood or adulthood socioeconomic status (SES). The participants were 647 men and 893 women derived from the population-based Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. Childhood SES was measured in 1980 when the participants were aged 3-18. In 2001, adulthood SES, anger, cynicism, and IMT were measured. There were no associations between anger or cynicism and IMT in the entire population, but anger was associated with thicker IMT in participants who had experienced low SES in childhood. This association persisted after adjustment for a host of cardiovascular risk factors. It is concluded that the ill health-effects of psychological factors such as anger may be more pronounced in individuals who have been exposed to adverse socioeconomic circumstances early in life.

Work stress, socioeconomic status and neuroendocrine activation over the working day

Socioeconomic status (SES) differences in cardiovascular and metabolic disease risk may be mediated in part by differential activation of neuroendocrine pathways. We have previously found that salivary cortisol levels over the working day are greater in lower than higher SES men, but that cortisol output is greater in higher than lower SES women. This study investigated the role of work stress in generating these patterns, analysing cortisol output in relation to job demands and job control. Participants were 97 men and 84 woman from the Whitehall II cohort, London, UK, recruited from higher and lower grades of employment. Saliva samples were obtained on waking and 30 min later to assess the cortisol waking responses, and at two hourly intervals over a typical working day. Cortisol responses to waking were positively associated with high job demands, but this effect was attenuated by higher SES. In women but not men, cortisol levels over the remainder of the day were elevated in lower SES participants who experienced high job demands, but depressed in lower status women who reported low job demands. Job control did not influence cortisol responses to waking, but in men cortisol levels over the remainder of the day were inversely related to job control. These cortisol differences were independent of age, smoking status and time of waking up. Subjectively, the most stress was reported by higher SES individuals who experienced low job control. We conclude that work stress and SES are related differently to cortisol responses to waking and cortisol output over the day. Job control may partly mediate SES differences in cortisol in men, while job demands are more relevant for women. Analyses of psychobiological pathways must take account of variations in exposure to chronic stressors as well as differences in responsivity to stressors.

Snow removal as a trigger of sudden cardiac death in men of higher socioeconomic status

Snow removal as a trigger of sudden cardiac death in men of higher socioeconomic status

Socioeconomic status and weight control practices in British adults

STUDY OBJECTIVEAttitudes and practices concerning weight control in British adults were examined to test the hypothesis that variation in concern about weight and deliberate weight control might partly explain the...

Associations of leisure-time physical activity and obesity with atherogenic lipoprotein-lipid markers among non-smoking middle-aged men.

The association of both leisure-time physical activity and obesity with lipoprotein-lipids and composite atherogenic markers were examined within a cross-sectional study of middle-aged men of higher socioeconomic status. Analyses were performed on a subsample (n=629) of non-smoking, non-diabetic men (46.7+/-7.8 years) who completed a preventive medical assessment between 1992 and 1996. Mean adjusted (age, body mass index (BMI), sum of skinfolds, fasting glucose, and logarithmic alcohol consumption) levels of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) were significantly higher, and logarithmic triglycerides significantly lower, with higher physical activity index (PAI) categories (both P<0.0001). Significantly lower adjusted mean ratios of both total cholesterol to HDL-C (TC:HDL-C), and logarithmic triglycerides to HDL-C (TG:HDL-C) with higher PAI were evident following adjustment for the above covariates (P=0.005 and P<0.0001). Age-adjusted non-HDL-C (total cholesterol minus HDL-C) decreased significantly with higher PAI categories, but was not significantly lower following covariate adjustment (P=0.150). On stepwise multiple regression, logarithmic physical activity score and BMI explained 9.5-14% of the variance in the TC:HDL-C and TG:HDL-C ratios in models including age, body mass, sum of skinfolds, fasting glucose and logarithmic alcohol consumption. Age, sum of skinfolds and logarithmic alcohol consumption were significant predictors of non-HDL-C (r2=8.0%). These findings emphasise the importance of both physical activity and obesity in predicting lipoprotein-lipid risk markers.

Physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness, and the primary components of blood viscosity.

The relationship of both self-reported leisure time physical activity (LTPA) and predicted maximum oxygen consumption (VO2max) with plasma viscosity and hematocrit (Hct) concentration was examined within a cross-sectional sample of employed middle-aged men. Analyses were performed on a subsample of nonsmoking men who completed a preventive medical assessment between 1992-1996. Among nonsmokers the mean age-adjusted levels of plasma viscosity (N = 590) and Hct concentration (N = 632) were significantly lower with higher Physical Activity Index (PAI) categories (P = 0.001 and P = 0.01, respectively). Following adjustment for conventional IHD risk factors and blood leukocyte count, a significant inverse relationship remained for Hct (P = 0.044) but not plasma viscosity. Mean age-adjusted plasma viscosity and Hct concentration also showed a significant decrease with higher quartiles of predicted VO2max (mL x kg(-1) x min(-1))(P = < 0.00005 and P = 0.0004, respectively). Following adjustment for all confounding variables mean plasma viscosity and Hct concentration remained significantly lower with higher quartiles of predicted VO2max (mL x kg(-1) x min(-1))(P = < 0.00005 and P = 0.047). These data confirm the inverse relationship between LTPA and/or predicted VO2max with plasma viscosity and Hct concentration within nonsmoking middle-aged men of high socioeconomic status.