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Full text release has been delayed at the author's request until May 13, 2024

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John Henryism, Socioeconomic Status and Health Behaviors among African Americans

Barnett, Kierra
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu157798346880613

Abstract Details

2020, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Public Health.
Purpose: John Henryism (JH) is defined as a strong behavioral predisposition to engage in high effort coping against social and economic adversity and may be crucial to understanding health disparities. The aims of this research were to: 1) assess if JH is a static or changeable measure across time, 2) examine the determinants of JH scores and 3) examine if the JH by SES interaction is correlated with smoking. Methods: Analyses from the study were based on data from the Pitt County Study (N=1,177), a longitudinal study of health among a socioeconomically diverse sample of Black adults. First, descriptive statistics, Wald and proportion tests were performed to evaluate changes in scores measured as a continuous, binary, and categorical measure of JH over a 13-year period. Second, to determine which covariates predict JH scores, backward hierarchical stepwise selection procedures were used. This analysis included building five models: cross-sectional models in 1988 and 2001, two longitudinal models assessing JH scores in 2001 using 1988 covariates and a model assessing predictors of Change scores. To address the third aim, logistic regression was used to assess the correlation between JH, education and smoking controlling for age, sex, social support, and perceived stress. Results: JH scores fluctuated substantially over the 13-year period. The overall mean change score was moderate (-0.71; p value = 0.004), but the absolute mean change scores was 5.24 (p<0.0001), suggesting the magnitude of the change is substantial. Approximately 40% of the sample shifted between low and high categories over the study period, with 18% of the sample experiencing more drastic shifts using a novel categorization method based on quintiles. Trends in John Henryism significantly varied by education level but not age or sex. The results of the second aim concluded that the correlations between JH scores and covariates are not consistent over time. Furthermore, social support was significantly associated with JH scores in many of the models, but its effect varied by type of social support. The third aim documented that the interaction between John Henryism and SES is associated with smoking, but its significance depends on how JH is measured. Measured continuously, there is no significant association between the JH by SES interaction and smoking in the fully adjusted model. As a binary measure, the method traditionally used in JH literature, findings indicate a significant difference in smoking among those with high JH. Finally, the analysis using the categorical measure of JH yielded unanticipated results, highlighting new relationships between JH, SES and health outcomes; among those with moderate JH levels, those with at least a high school education were significantly less likely to smoke compared to those with less than a high school education (OR: 0.48; CI: 0.25 – 0.95). Conclusion: The findings that document changes in JH scores over time as well as the inconsistent correlation with potential covariates over time suggest the need for future research to measure JH at multiple time points. It remains unknown if the observed correlations between JH, SES and health outcomes that has been documented in previous literature is consistent over time; this warrants further investigation. The present findings also indicate that the use of a categorical measure of JH that is based on quintiles allows researchers to assess more nuances in scores.
Pamela Salsberry, PhD (Advisor)
167 p.
Public Health
John Henryism; Stress and coping; Health disparities

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Barnett, K. (2020). John Henryism, Socioeconomic Status and Health Behaviors among African Americans [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu157798346880613

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Barnett, Kierra. John Henryism, Socioeconomic Status and Health Behaviors among African Americans. 2020. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu157798346880613.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Barnett, Kierra. "John Henryism, Socioeconomic Status and Health Behaviors among African Americans." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu157798346880613

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu157798346880613
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.