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Media Portrayals and Health Inequalities: A Case Study of Characterizations of Gene x Environment Interactions

Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research, and Department of Sociology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Address correspondence to Allan V. Horwitz, Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research and Department of Sociology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ. E-mail: avhorw{at}rci.rutgers.edu

Abstract

Objectives. This article examines how genetic and environmental interactions associated with health inequalities are constructed and framed in the presentation of scientific research.

Methods. It uses the example of a major article about depression in a longitudinal study of young adults that appeared in Science in 2003.

Results. This portrayal of findings related to health inequalities uses a genetic lens that privileges genetic influences and diminishes environmental ones.

Discussion. The emphasis on the genetic side of Gene x Environment interactions can serve to deflect attention away from the important impact of social inequalities on health.