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Why Do College Graduates Behave More Healthfully Than Those Who Are Less Educated?

Year: 2017

Type: article

Abstract: College graduates live much healthier lives than those with less education, but research has yet to document with certainty the sources of this disparity. This study examines why U.S. young adults who earn college degrees exhibit healthier behavior than those with less education. I use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), which offers information on education and health behaviors across adolescence and young adulthood (N=14,265). Accounting for selection into college degree attainment substantially reduces the associations between college degree attainment and health behavior, but college degree attainment demonstrates a strong causal effect on young adult health. Financial, occupational, social, cognitive, and psychological resources explain less than half of the association between college degree attainment and health behavior. The healthier behaviors of college graduates are the result of sorting into educational attainment, embedding of human capital, and mechanisms other than socioeconomic and psychosocial resources.

Source: Journal of Health and Social Behavior

DOI: 10.1177/0022146517715671

Author: Elizabeth M. Lawrence

Institution: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Language: English

Topic: Health disparities and outcomes

Subfield: Health

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: green