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AbstractMedical sociology and science and technology studies (STS) emerged from different positions, but often closely related concerns, within the broad discipline of sociology. Their interface and areas of overlap have mostly been shaped by theoretical positions broadly considered "social constructionist." Taken together, these perspectives provide empirical and theoretical tools to analyze important questions about how social inequalities, forms of scientific knowledge, and patterns of human health come to be produced and feedback into one another. Examining their intersection enables sociological questions such as: How is medical and public health scientific knowledge produced, stabilized, and taken as fact? How are scientific facts about health and illness used, experienced, and challenged? What is the relationship between health inequalities and public health or medical knowledge? This article seeks to briefly trace the important contributions that social constructionist research has made at the interstices of medical sociology and STS, further clarifying the history, points of intersection, and areas of diversion between them. The current COVID‐19 pandemic has unveiled the political struggles that constitute public health scientific knowledge and circulation. The interface between STS and medical sociology can help us to make sense of the interrelationships between politics, power inequalities, and public health scientific knowledge.

PurposeDrawing on the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm and the norm of reciprocity, this paper examines the relationship between high-performance human resources practices (HPHRPs) and employee counterproductive work behavior (CWB), and whether HPHRP interact with coercive control systems to predict these outcomes.Design/methodology/approachUsing meta-ethnographic data collected from 149 organizational ethnographies, the authors test the hypotheses that (a) HPHRP are negatively related to CWB and (b) HPHRP and coercive control interact such that the relationship between HPHRP and CWB is weaker when coercive control is high.FindingsThe analysis finds that HPHRP and coercive control interacted such that HPHRP was negatively associated with CWB, but only when coercive control was low. When coercive control was high, the relationship between HPHRP was negated.Practical implicationsThe results suggest that HPHRP are negatively related to counterproductive behaviors; but when coercive control systems are strong, the potential benefits of HPHRP in terms of reducing CWB may be lost.Originality/valueThis study examines the relationship between HPHRP and a comprehensive set of CWB. By examining the interaction between HPHRP and coercive control, the authors add to literature demonstrating that the effects of HPHRP may be dependent on an organization's operational strategy. Finally, our use of meta-ethnographic data offers a methodological approach that may increase the generalizability of our findings.

This article examines an attempt to reconstitute global development governance in a context of growing influence for private finance. We focus on the World Bank's Human Capital Project (HCP) and Human Capital Index (HCI), which have stated aims of promoting economic growth and accelerating progress towards achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Informed by a review of publicly available World Bank materials, we argue that, through its HCP and HCI, the World Bank is responding to its own institutional sidelining in development financing and governance with a strategy of reintermediation. Its leaders have pursued a system of governance in which the World Bank creates and instrumentalises knowledge on human capital – an asset to be accumulated through judicious investments in markets for self-betterment. Through its HCI the World Bank has expanded its global benchmarking practices, encompassing new domains and quantified predictions of future productivity, in the hope of shaping domestic policy processes. Its leaders propose to use HCI scores to signal risk to investors and political leaders, triggering political shocks that will spur policy reform. Crucially, these efforts seek to reassert the World Bank's epistemic authority and financing clout as the influence of its own lending wanes.

Background: The ethnic density hypothesis suggests that ethnic density confers greater social support and consequently protects against depressive symptoms in ethnic minority individuals. However, the potential benefits of ethnic density have not been examined in individuals who are facing a specific and salient life stressor. Aims: We examined the degree to which the effects of Hispanic ethnic density on depressive symptoms are explained by socioeconomic resources and social support. Methods: Patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS, N = 472) completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and measures of demographics, ACS clinical factors and perceived social support. Neighborhood characteristics, including median income, number of single parent households and Hispanic ethnic density, were extracted from the American Community Survey Census (2005–2009) for each patient using his or her geocoded address. Results: In a linear regression analysis adjusted for demographic and clinical factors, Hispanic ethnic density was positively associated with depressive symptoms (β = .09, standard error (SE) = .04, p = .03). However, Hispanic density was no longer a significant predictor of depressive symptoms when neighborhood characteristics were controlled. The relationship of Hispanic density on depressive symptoms was moderated by nativity status. Among US-born patients with ACS, there was a significant positive relationship between Hispanic density and depressive symptoms and social support significantly mediated this effect. There was no observed effect of Hispanic density to depressive symptoms for foreign-born ACS patients. Conclusion: Although previous research suggests that ethnic density may be protective against depression, our data suggest that among patients with ACS, living in a community with a high concentration of Hispanic individuals is associated with constrained social and economic resources that are themselves associated with greater depressive symptoms. These data add to a growing body of literature on the effects of racial or ethnic segregation on health outcomes.

Objective The aim of this study was to estimate the association of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with risk for incident coronary heart disease (CHD). Design A systematic review and meta-analysis were used as study designs. Data Sources Articles were identified by searching Ovid MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Scopus, Cochrane Library, PILOTS database, and PubMed Related Articles and through a manual search of reference lists (1948-present). Study Selection All studies that assessed PTSD in participants initially free of CHD and subsequently assessed CHD/cardiac-specific mortality were included. Data Extraction Two investigators independently extracted estimates of the association of PTSD with CHD, as well as study characteristics. Odds ratios were converted to hazard ratios (HRs), and a random-effects model was used to pool results. A secondary analysis including only studies that reported estimates adjusted for depression was conducted. Results Six studies met our inclusion criteria (N = 402,274); 5 of these included depression as a covariate. The pooled HR for the magnitude of the relationship between PTSD and CHD was 1.55 (95% CI 1.34-1.79) before adjustment for depression. The pooled HR estimate for the 5 depression-adjusted estimates (N = 362,950) was 1.27 (95% CI 1.08-1.49). Conclusion Posttraumatic stress disorder is independently associated with increased risk for incident CHD, even after adjusting for depression and other covariates. It is common in both military veterans and civilian trauma survivors, and these results suggest that it may be a modifiable risk factor for CHD. Future research should identify the mechanisms of this association and determine whether PTSD treatment offsets CHD risk.

For the poorest of our world, non-communicable diseases and injuries (NCDIs) account for more than a third of their burden of disease; this burden includes almost 800000 deaths annually among those aged younger than 40 years, more than HIV, tuberculosis, and maternal deaths combined. • Despite already living in abject poverty, between 19 million and 50 million of the poorest billion spend a catastrophic amount of money each year in direct out-of-pocket costs on health care as a result of NCDIs. • Progressive implementation of affordable, cost-effective, and equitable NCDI interventions between 2020 and 2030 could save the lives of more than 4·6 million of the world's poorest, including 1·3 million who would otherwise die before the age of 40 years. • To avoid needless death and suffering, and to reduce the risk of catastrophic health spending, essential NCDI services must be financed through pooled, public resources, either from increased domestic funding or external funds. • National governments should set and adjust priorities based on the best available local data on NCDIs and the specific needs of the worst off. • International development assistance for health should be augmented and targeted to ensure that the poorest families affected by NCDIs are included in progress towards universal health care.