Do Psychosocial Risk Factors Influence Health in Community Settings?

A range of different psychosocial risk factors have been posited as potential contributors to excess burdens of ill health and health inequalities. The evidence that describes the relative importance of these risk factors, the kinds of people they have been shown to effect (and in which setting), and the health effects that they are associated with needs to be appraised and made available to policy-makers. Literature reviews have synthesised epidemiological evidence describing associations between various psychosocial factors and population health characteristics in different social settings. To collate evidence for researchers and practitioners interested in community health we have conducted a meta-review (a review of reviews) exploring how psychosocial factors may relate to population health in community settings.