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Updated: Sep 16, 2025
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Virtual Hand with Ambiguous Movement between the Self and Other Origin: Sense of Ownership and 'Other-Produced' Agency
Published on: October 28, 2020
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Sense of Mastery Explains Social Patterning of Health
Shervin Assari1,2,3,4, Babak Najand5, Alexandra Donovan1
1Department of Internal Medicine, Charles R Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA 90059, USA.
Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland)
|July 12, 2025
Summary
Sense of mastery and control over life significantly mediate how social determinants like childhood abuse and education impact health, behaviors, and well-being across diverse global populations.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Public Health
- Sociology
Background:
- Social determinants of health (SDOH), including adversity and socioeconomic position, influence physical health, behaviors, and well-being.
- Psychological mechanisms linking SDOH to outcomes are under-explored internationally.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test if sense of mastery and control mediate associations between stressors (childhood abuse, financial insecurity) and socioeconomic resources (education, employment, marital status) with health, behaviors, and well-being.
- To examine these links across a diverse international sample.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional analysis of over 200,000 adults from 23 countries (Global Flourishing Study, Wave 1).
- Predictors included childhood abuse, financial insecurity, education, employment, and marital status.
- Outcomes comprised self-rated health, mental health, risk behaviors, life satisfaction, and happiness.
- Structural equation modeling (SEM) evaluated direct and mediated effects via sense of mastery and control.
Main Results:
- Stressors correlated with poorer health, increased risk behaviors, and lower well-being.
- Higher education, employment, and marriage were linked to better outcomes.
- Sense of mastery and control significantly mediated the effects of both stressors and socioeconomic resources on all tested outcomes.
Conclusions:
- Sense of mastery and control are key psychological pathways linking social advantage and adversity to health and well-being.
- Interventions enhancing perceived control may improve global health, well-being, and reduce behavioral risks.
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