Working conditions and the social gradient of health in midlife: New explanations based on the CONSTANCES cohort study

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Johannes Siegrist; Privatdozent Dr. Morten Wahrendorf
• Subject Area: Empirical Social Research ; Public Health, Healthcare Research, Social and Occupational Medicine
• Term: from 2019 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 426165351

Social inequalities of health persist in modern societies, and midlife is a stage of life where these inequalities in terms of a social gradient are particularly pronounced. Explanations of social gradients of midlife health are far from being conclusive. Given a prominent role of work and employment in this stage of life, the proposed project aims at analyzing the mediating and moderating role of adverse physical and psychosocial working conditions in explaining the association of socioeconomic position with health. Specific hypotheses will be examined in the frame of a large longitudinal study of employed middle-aged men and women in France. The development and test of a theory-based construct of occupational inequality, derived from retrospectively assessed work trajectories, and the integration of biological and behavioral aspects into this sociological analysis are considered innovative features of the project.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: France
• Cooperation Partners: Professor Dr. Nico Dragano; Professor Dr. Marcel Goldberg; Professorin Dr. Marie Zins