Poor social relations and adverse health behaviour: stronger associations in low socioeconomic groups?

OBJECTIVE: Poor social relations are supposed to contribute to adverse health behaviour. We examined this association and the role of low socio-economic position.
METHODS: We regressed health behaviour on composite variables of the two exposures of social relations and socio-economic position (SEP). Social relations included networks and support; health behaviour was analysed in terms of smoking, poor nutrition and physical inactivity; socio-economic position comprised of income and education. Cross sectional data from a population based epidemiological study in German (4,814 men and women aged 45-75) was analysed.
RESULTS: Among the indicators for social relations, social isolation was consistently associated with adverse health behaviour; social support showed modest effect. A combination of poor social relations and low SEP displayed stronger (additive) associations with adverse health behaviour than each factor alone. However, superadditivity was excluded.
CONCLUSION: Given the important role of health adverse behaviour in chronic disease development, results underline the relevance of social environment and socio-economic structure in Public Health interventions.