Volta

Interpreting social determinants: Emergent properties and adolescent risk behaviour

A link between adversity, including low socio-economic status, and behaviours which carry health risks, such as alcohol consumption, has often been observed.The causes of this link are, however, poorly understood, making it difficult to explain why the association is often not linear and why there is so much variability between groups and individuals facing similar adversity.We investigate the use of the concept of emergent properties in explaining the link and its non-linear nature.'Emergent properties' arise from the interaction of factors or items in a high-level system which, as a result, has qualities possessed by none of the individual factors.We apply a mixed methods approach to examine the association of an example emergent property, hope, and alcohol consumption among adolescents in …

Reference & gravity metrics

Secondary-market trade history

References (0)

Cited by (1)