Political orientation, political environment, and health behaviors in the United States. 2018

Viji Diane Kannan, and Peter J Veazie
Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Rochester, United States of America. Electronic address: viji_kannan@urmc.rochester.edu.

Political orientation (Republican/Democrat and conservative/liberal) and political environment (geo-spatial political party affiliated voting patterns) are both associated with various health outcomes, including mortality. Modern disease etiology in the U.S. suggests that many of our health outcomes derive from behaviors and lifestyle choices. Thus, we examine the associations of political orientation and political environment with health behaviors. We used the Annenberg National Health Communication Survey (ANHCS) data, which is a nationally representative U.S. survey fielded continuously from 2005 through 2012. The health behaviors studied include health information search, flu vaccination, excessive alcohol consumption, tobacco consumption, exercise, and dietary patterns. Democrats/liberals had higher odds of cigarette smoking and excessive drinking compared to Republicans/conservatives. Whereas, Republicans/conservatives ate fewer servings and fewer varieties of fruit and vegetables; ate more high fat and processed foods; and engaged in less in-depth health information searches compared to Democrats/liberals. Also, conservatives had lower odds of exercise participation than liberals; whereas Republicans had lower odds of flu vaccination. Greater Republican vote share in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections at the state and/or county levels was associated with higher odds of flu vaccination and smoking cigarettes and lower odds of avoiding fat/calories, avoiding fast/processed food, eating a variety of fruits and vegetables, and eating more servings of fruit. We use the distinct cognitive-motivational styles attributed to political orientation in discussing the findings. Health communication strategies could leverage these relationships to produce tailored and targeted messages as well as to develop and advocate for policy.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008019 Life Style Typical way of life or manner of living characteristic of an individual or group. (From APA, Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, 8th ed) Lifestyle Factors,Life Style Induced Illness,Lifestyle,Factor, Lifestyle,Life Styles,Lifestyle Factor,Lifestyles
D008297 Male Males
D008875 Middle Aged An adult aged 45 - 64 years. Middle Age
D011057 Politics Activities concerned with governmental policies, functions, etc. Political Activity,Conservatism,Decentralization,Liberalism,Political Factors,Activities, Political,Activity, Political,Factor, Political,Factors, Political,Political Activities,Political Factor
D004777 Environment The external elements and conditions which surround, influence, and affect the life and development of an organism or population. Environmental Impact,Environmental Impacts,Impact, Environmental,Impacts, Environmental,Environments
D005260 Female Females
D006306 Health Surveys A systematic collection of factual data pertaining to health and disease in a human population within a given geographic area. Abortion Surveys,Abortion Survey,Health Survey,Survey, Abortion,Survey, Health,Surveys, Abortion,Surveys, Health
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D012959 Socioeconomic Factors Social and economic factors that characterize the individual or group within the social structure. Economic and Social Factors,Social Inequalities,Social Inequality,Social and Economic Factors,Socioeconomic Characteristics,Factors, Socioeconomic,High-Income Population,Land Tenure,Standard of Living,Characteristic, Socioeconomic,Factor, Socioeconomic,High Income Population,High-Income Populations,Inequality, Social,Living Standard,Living Standards,Population, High-Income,Socioeconomic Characteristic,Socioeconomic Factor,Tenure, Land
D014481 United States A country in NORTH AMERICA between CANADA and MEXICO.

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