SOCIAL GERONTOLOGY A
MULTIDISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVE 10TH
EDITION COMPREHENSIVE EXAM SCRIPT
SOLVED QUESTIONS GRADED A+
◉ What is the job-stress model proposed by Karasek and
colleagues?
Answer: It links socioeconomic status (SES) to coronary heart
disease through 'job strain' characterized by high job demands and
low decision latitude.
◉ What did Mirowsky and Ross (1989) identify as mechanisms for
social patterns of distress?
Answer: Alienation and perceived control over life circumstances
underlie many social conditions that increase psychological distress.
◉ What did Rosenfield (1989) find about gender differences in
depression and anxiety?
Answer: Women exhibit higher symptoms of depression and anxiety,
especially when overloaded by work and family demands or
experiencing low power.
,◉ What is the significance of elucidating mechanisms in social
epidemiology according to Link and Dohrenwend (1989)?
Answer: It clarifies the relative merit of competing explanations for
social patterns of disease.
◉ What unintended consequence might arise from focusing on
intervening mechanisms in disease causation?
Answer: It may contribute to a focus on factors closer to disease,
neglecting the importance of social conditions.
◉ What shift occurred in research focus regarding socioeconomic
status and mental disorder from 1966 to 1985?
Answer: There was a decline in publications on social class and
mental disorder, while articles on stress and psychiatric disorders
increased.
◉ What are the two characterizations of social conditions as causes
of disease discussed in the text?
Answer: 1) Social factors are only proxies for true causes. 2) Social
factors serve as starting points to identify more proximal risk
factors.
◉ What is the concept of 'contextualizing risk factors' in medical
sociology?
,Answer: It involves understanding why individuals are exposed to
risk factors and the social conditions linking individual risk factors
to disease.
◉ How can public education about AIDS be contextualized?
Answer: By understanding why some individuals are better able to
act on information to reduce their risk of contracting or spreading
HIV.
◉ What is the relationship between social conditions and disease
outcomes according to the text?
Answer: Social conditions are causes exerting indirect effects on
disease outcomes rather than mere proxies.
◉ What did the research by Schnall et al. (1992) reveal about job
strain?
Answer: Job strain is associated with elevated levels of ambulatory
blood pressure both on and off the job.
◉ What is the impact of low power and role overload on women's
mental health?
Answer: They are related to a decreased sense of personal control,
which is linked to symptoms of anxiety and depression.
, ◉ What did the authors argue regarding the role of social factors in
disease causation?
Answer: They argue that social factors should not be viewed as
merely starting points for identifying proximal risk factors.
◉ What is the importance of understanding mechanisms in social
epidemiology?
Answer: It helps in identifying causal links between distal factors
like SES and proximal factors like occupational stress.
◉ What is the critique of the stress paradigm evolution in medical
sociology?
Answer: It may inadvertently downplay the importance of social
conditions that initially prompted research.
◉ What is the effect of focusing on individual factors in disease
causation?
Answer: It may lead to the perception that social factors have only a
modest role in disease causation.
◉ What is a potential risk of emphasizing mechanisms over social
conditions?
Answer: It could lead to neglecting fundamental social conditions
that contribute to disease.
MULTIDISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVE 10TH
EDITION COMPREHENSIVE EXAM SCRIPT
SOLVED QUESTIONS GRADED A+
◉ What is the job-stress model proposed by Karasek and
colleagues?
Answer: It links socioeconomic status (SES) to coronary heart
disease through 'job strain' characterized by high job demands and
low decision latitude.
◉ What did Mirowsky and Ross (1989) identify as mechanisms for
social patterns of distress?
Answer: Alienation and perceived control over life circumstances
underlie many social conditions that increase psychological distress.
◉ What did Rosenfield (1989) find about gender differences in
depression and anxiety?
Answer: Women exhibit higher symptoms of depression and anxiety,
especially when overloaded by work and family demands or
experiencing low power.
,◉ What is the significance of elucidating mechanisms in social
epidemiology according to Link and Dohrenwend (1989)?
Answer: It clarifies the relative merit of competing explanations for
social patterns of disease.
◉ What unintended consequence might arise from focusing on
intervening mechanisms in disease causation?
Answer: It may contribute to a focus on factors closer to disease,
neglecting the importance of social conditions.
◉ What shift occurred in research focus regarding socioeconomic
status and mental disorder from 1966 to 1985?
Answer: There was a decline in publications on social class and
mental disorder, while articles on stress and psychiatric disorders
increased.
◉ What are the two characterizations of social conditions as causes
of disease discussed in the text?
Answer: 1) Social factors are only proxies for true causes. 2) Social
factors serve as starting points to identify more proximal risk
factors.
◉ What is the concept of 'contextualizing risk factors' in medical
sociology?
,Answer: It involves understanding why individuals are exposed to
risk factors and the social conditions linking individual risk factors
to disease.
◉ How can public education about AIDS be contextualized?
Answer: By understanding why some individuals are better able to
act on information to reduce their risk of contracting or spreading
HIV.
◉ What is the relationship between social conditions and disease
outcomes according to the text?
Answer: Social conditions are causes exerting indirect effects on
disease outcomes rather than mere proxies.
◉ What did the research by Schnall et al. (1992) reveal about job
strain?
Answer: Job strain is associated with elevated levels of ambulatory
blood pressure both on and off the job.
◉ What is the impact of low power and role overload on women's
mental health?
Answer: They are related to a decreased sense of personal control,
which is linked to symptoms of anxiety and depression.
, ◉ What did the authors argue regarding the role of social factors in
disease causation?
Answer: They argue that social factors should not be viewed as
merely starting points for identifying proximal risk factors.
◉ What is the importance of understanding mechanisms in social
epidemiology?
Answer: It helps in identifying causal links between distal factors
like SES and proximal factors like occupational stress.
◉ What is the critique of the stress paradigm evolution in medical
sociology?
Answer: It may inadvertently downplay the importance of social
conditions that initially prompted research.
◉ What is the effect of focusing on individual factors in disease
causation?
Answer: It may lead to the perception that social factors have only a
modest role in disease causation.
◉ What is a potential risk of emphasizing mechanisms over social
conditions?
Answer: It could lead to neglecting fundamental social conditions
that contribute to disease.
