How Does the Social World Shape Health Across the Lifespan? Insights and New Directions

Decades of research highlight the connections between stressful life experiences-particularly those experienced in childhood-and physical health across the lifespan. In recent years, studies at the intersection of social and biomedical science have provided intriguing insights into the biological mechanisms that might explain how chronic and acute stressors give rise to health problems, sometimes decades later in life. To date, efforts to understand these connections have relied on a handful of study designs, and these studies have revealed important observations about how stressful experiences are thought to shape health. At the same time, these study designs have some drawbacks that limit the conclusions that can be drawn about the role of the social world for health. This article provides an overview of research on social determinants of health and includes a discussion of conceptual and methodological directions for the field to consider. Public Significance Statement This review presents a broad overview of studies linking stressful life experiences (such as exposure to maltreatment, poverty, and chronic interpersonal conflict) to physical health across the lifespan. I suggest several priorities for future research, including an increased focus on developmental trajectories, consideration of individual and contextual moderators, and new approaches to study design.