Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 19, 2026

Collecting Hair Samples for Hair Cortisol Analysis in African Americans
Published on: June 10, 2018
Subjective social status and health behaviors among African Americans
Lorraine R Reitzel1, Nga Nguyen, Larkin L Strong
1Department of Health Disparities Research, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA. Lrreitze@mdanderson.org
Objectives:
To examine associations of the US and community subjective social status (SSS) ladders with smoking status, at-risk drinking, fruit and vegetable intake, physical activity, and body mass index among 1467 church-going African American adults from a larger cohort study.
Methods:
Regression analyses, adjusted for sociodemographics, examined associations between SSS ladders and health behaviors.
Results:
The SSS-US ladder was significantly associated with fruit and vegetable consumption (p = .007) and physical activity (p = .005). The SSS-community ladder was not significantly associated with any health behaviors.
Conclusions:
Among this sample of African Americans, the SSS-US ladder is more predictive of some health behaviors than is the SSS-community ladder.
Related Concept Videos
Surveys
Sources of Self-Esteem III: Social Comparison
Relationship Formation
Assessment of the Cardiovascular System I: Subjective Data
Initial Enquiry
Ask the patient about their primary concern and thoroughly explore all reported symptoms.
Medical History
Investigate past illnesses affecting the cardiovascular system, such as angina, anemia, rheumatic fever, congenital heart disease, stroke, thrombophlebitis, dysrhythmias, varicosities
Inquire about symptoms...
Social Psychology and Individual Behavior
Self-Presentation: Self-Monitoring and Self-Handicapping
