Publications
Read on to explore a wide selection of our team’s most notable and groundbreaking papers and articles.
The effects of income inequality on cardiovascular reactivity
2022
The slow and insidious effects of income inequality on health means that their effects can be difficult to reveal, taking many years to become apparent. These effects can
also be experienced differently according to subjective status and ethnicity making the
relation between income inequality and health difficult to understand. Cardiovascular reactions to acute stress are indicative of future health outcomes. Objective: To examine
whether short to medium term income inequality affected cardiovascular responses to acute stress whilst accounting for ethnic groups and subjective status. Method: Participants state of residence was available for 1155 people who participated in the MIDUS biomarker data
project. This detail was used to merge the relevant US state level inequality data 1, 5, 10 and 15 years prior to the MIDUS biomarker data project which assessed cardiovascular responses
to acute stress. Results: Our analysis demonstrated an association between inequality 5, 10 and 15 year prior and cardiovascular reactions to acute stress. Subjective community status
and Black and minority ethnic group membership interacted to affect the association between inequality and cardiovascular reactions. Conclusions: In states where income inequality was
high, less healthy cardiovascular responses were evident. However lower subjective community status and Black and Ethnic minority group members interacted with income
inequality such that their impact was variable contingent on state level inequality. These findings extend the literature on income inequality and health and particularly highlights a
psychophysiology pathway linking income inequality and health.
2022
Predicting positive psychosocial outcomes following an Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) remains a challenge. Considerable research demonstrates that social group memberships can have positive effects on psychological well-being, particularly during life transitions. Social group memberships are argued to help people derive a sense of self. This prospective study examined if social group memberships (number of groups and connectedness with groups) could predict posttraumatic growth (PTG) in those affected by ABI. Thirty-six participants (10 females, Mage = 46.56, SD = 11.46) engaged in community rehabilitation services completed measures at two time-points. Mediation analyses demonstrated that the number of new group memberships (groups formed post-injury) predicted greater PTG at time 2, via stronger connectedness with these new group memberships (controlling for initial PTG). The observed results suggest that a focus on developing and strengthening connections with new group memberships may promote positive adjustment after brain injury.
Solidarity matters: prototypicality and minority and majority adherence to national COVID-19 health advice
2021
The effectiveness of measures introduced to minimise the spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19) depends on compliance from all members of society. The Irish response to COVID-19 has been framed as a collective effort, fostering national solidarity. However, dominant representations of the national community often unreflexively reaffirm the prototypicality of majority group members, implicitly marginalizing minority group members. This may have implications for adherence behaviours. We propose that majority/minority membership of the national community predicts adherence to COVID-19 health advice via prototypicality and national solidarity. In Study 1, we collected data online from Irish residents (N = 1,185) during the first wave of restrictions in Ireland’s response. In Study 2, we collected data from Irish residents (N = 537) during the second wave of restrictions, with more targeted sampling of minority groups. Based on these two studies, there is no difference between minority and majority group members’ adherence behaviours. However, mediation analysis showed that greater adherence to COVID-19 health advice is shown when group members perceive themselves to be prototypical of the Irish national community, and thereby show greater national solidarity. In Study 3, we manipulated an appeal to adhere to restrictions (N = 689) and show that an inclusive solidarity appeal increased reported intentions to adhere to COVID-19 restrictions compared to an exclusive solidarity appeal among minority group members. These findings suggest that appeals to national solidarity in response to COVID-19 will be most successful when they reference the diversity of the nation.
CSI-R Newsletter 2022
December 22, 2022
Read a snapshot of some of our activities and successes in the Centre for Social Issues Research (CSI-R) newsletter for 2022