Refining the association between education and health: The effects of quantity, credential, and selectivity

We refine the established association between education and health by disti nguishing three aspects of a person's education (quantity: credential, and selectivity) and by examining the mechanisms through which they may correla te with health. Data are from the 1995 Aging, Status, and the Sense of Cont rol Survey, a representative U.S. national telephone survey of 2,593 respon dents aged 18 to 95, with an oversample of elderly Results show that physic al functioning and perceived health increase significantly with years of fo rmal education and with college selectivity for those with a bachelor's or higher degree, adjusting for age, sex; race, marital status, and parental e ducation. The credential of a college degree has no net association with ph ysical functioning and perceived health beyond the amount attributable to t he additional years of schooling. Of the three aspects of education, years of schooling has the largest effect. Most of that association appears attri butable to its correlation with work and economic conditions, social psycho logical resources, and health lifestyle. A large portion of the net associa tion of college selectivity with physical functioning and perceived health appears attributable to health lifestyle.