HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY - WHAT IS AN UNHEALTHY ENVIRONMENT AND HOW DOES IT GET UNDER THE SKIN

This review explores the role of environments in creating chronic and acute health disorders. A general framework for studying the nesting o f social environments and the multiple pathways by which environmental factors may adversely affect health is offered. Treating socioeconomi c status (SES) and race as contextual factors, we examine characterist ics of the environments of community, work, family, and peer interacti on for predictors of positive and adverse health outcomes across the l ifespan. We consider chronic stress/allostatic load, mental distress, coping skills and resources, and health habits and behaviors as classe s of mechanisms that address how unhealthy environments get ''under th e skin,'' to create health disorders. Across multiple environments, un healthy environments are those that threaten safety, that undermine th e creation of social ties, and that are conflictual, abusive, or viole nt. A healthy environment, in contrast, provides safety, opportunities for social integration, and the ability to predict and/or control asp ects of that environment.