How Do Changes in the Family Structure and Dynamics Reflect on Health: The Socio-Ecological Model of Health in the Family

Abstract

Family is one of the most important socio-demographic factors when it comes to understanding health differences between individuals. Despite significant changes in family structure in recent decades, the influence of family as a social determinant of health on health outcomes remains strong and consistent. Family relationships’ role in shaping individuals’ health and vice versa highlights the multidimensional nature of health, which encompasses both objective and subjective elements. Throughout life, from early childhood to old age, the family, with its structure and dynamics, significantly reflects on the individual’s physical, mental, and social well-being. In this sense, the aim of this paper is to explore how the family, with its structure and dynamics, reflects on individuals’ health and health behaviour from early childhood through adulthood and into old age in the context of significant life events or transitions such as marriage, divorce, widowhood, and parenthood, by visualizing a conceptual model of the health of an individual in the family.