title: Racial/ethnic differences in US health behaviors: a decomposition analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To quantify contributions of individual sociodemographic factors, neighborhood socioeconomic status (NSES), and unmeasured factors to racial/ethnic differences in health behaviors for non-Hispanic (NH) whites, NH blacks, and Mexican Americans.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used linear regression and Oaxaca decomposition analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Although individual characteristics and NSES contributed to racial/ethnic differences in health behaviors, differential responses by individual characteristics and NSES also played a significant role.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There are racial/ethnic differences in the way that individual-level determinants and NSES affect health behaviors. Understanding the mechanisms for differential responses could inform community interventions and public health campaigns that target particular groups.
authors.affiliation: RAND Corporation, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. dubowitz@rand.org
authors.forename: Tamara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dubowitz
authors.forename: Melonie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heron
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Basurto-Davila
authors.forename: Chloe E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Bird
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lurie
authors.forename: José J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Escarce
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology; D004032:Diet / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D017058:Mexican Americans / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D012931:Social Environment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult