Meghan Zacher
Biographic Data
| ID | 190621 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Meghan Zacher |
| GIVEN NAMES | Meghan |
| FAMILY NAME | Zacher |
| SIGNATURE | ZACHER M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Cancer Council Victoria |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6635-3560 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 54 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 22 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Lessons in adjusting for genetic confounding in population research on education and health
Social scientists often fit regression models with a range of covariates to infer causal effects in observational, population-based data, but the resulting estimates may be biased by unknown, unmeasured, and poorly measured confounders. Adjusting for genetic confounding using polygenic indices (PGIs) has been forwarded as one way to reduce this bias. However, whether and how relationships of interest to social scientists change when adjusting for…
State Policy Liberalism in Adolescence and Risk for Dementia from 2000 to 2016 among Older U.S. Adults
Although prior research identifies many social determinants of dementia, few studies look upstream toward dementia’s macrosocial correlates, and fewer still consider macrosocial conditions in early life. This study focuses on state policy contexts in adolescence and, specifically, on state policy liberalism, defined as the overarching conservative–liberal orientation of state policies. We link panel data from a nationally representative sample of…
Mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic in a longitudinal study of Hurricane Katrina survivors
While the COVID-19 pandemic is known to have caused widespread mental health challenges, it remains unknown how the prevalence, presentation, and predictors of mental health adversity during the pandemic compare to other mass crises. We shed light on this question using longitudinal survey data (2003-2021) from 424 low-income mothers who were affected by both the pandemic and Hurricane Katrina, which struck the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2005. The preval…
Geographic Patterns of Dementia in the United States
The sociospatial patterning of dementia suggests its development is a lifelong process involving cumulated and heterogeneous lived experiences embedded in place
Educational Disparities in Hypertension Prevalence and Blood Pressure Percentiles in the Health and Retirement Study
Among older U.S. adults, the distribution of BP is compressed at lower, healthier levels for those with more education, and skewed toward the highest, most harmful levels among those with less education. Educational inequities in hypertension awareness and treatment efficacy may underlie these patterns. Implications for fundamental cause theory are discussed
Women's Health
Women's health, and what we know about it, is influenced by social factors. From the exclusion of women's bodies in medical research, to the silence and stigma of menstruation and menopause, to the racism reflected in maternal mortality, the relevance of social factors is paramount. After a brief history of research on women's health, we review selected patterns, trends, and inequalities in US women's health. These patterns reveal US women's poor…
Do health trajectories predict neighborhood outcomes? Evidence of health selection in a diverse sample of U.S. adults
Physical Health Symptoms and Hurricane Katrina
Objectives. To examine how physical health symptoms developed and resolved in response to Hurricane Katrina. Methods. We used data from a 2003 to 2018 study of young, low-income mothers who were living in New Orleans, Louisiana, when Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005 (n = 276). We fit logistic regressions to model the odds of first reporting or “developing” headaches or migraines, back problems, and digestive problems, and of experiencing remissio…
Extremes in Context
Gene discovery and polygenic prediction from a genome-wide association study of educational attainment in 1.1 million individuals
Here we conducted a large-scale genetic association analysis of educational attainment in a sample of approximately 1.1 million individuals and identify 1,271 independent genome-wide-significant SNPs. For the SNPs taken together, we found evidence of heterogeneous effects across environments. The SNPs implicate genes involved in brain-development processes and neuron-to-neuron communication. In a separate analysis of the X chromosome, we identify…
Education, Smoking, and Cohort Change
Sociologists interested in the effects of genes on complex social outcomes claim environmental conditions structure when and how genes matter, but they have only studied environmental moderation of genetic effects on single traits at a time (gene-by-environment interactions). In this article, we propose that the social environment can also transform the genetic link between two traits. Taking the relationship between educational attainment and sm…
History, place, and racial self-representation in 21st century America
Australian adult smokers’ responses to plain packaging with larger graphic health warnings 1 year after implementation
The specific objectives of plain packaging were achieved and generally sustained among adult smokers up to 12 months after implementation
Personal pack display and active smoking at outdoor café strips
This study demonstrated a sustained reduction in visibility of tobacco products and smoking in public, particularly in the presence of children, from pre-PP to 1 year post-PP. This effect is likely to reduce smoking-related social norms, thereby weakening an important influence on smoking uptake and better supporting quit attempts
Are quitting-related cognitions and behaviours predicted by proximal responses to plain packaging with larger health warnings? Findings from a national cohort study with Australian adult smokers
These findings provide an initial insight into the pathways through which PP with larger GHWs may lead to changes in smoking behaviour. Future research should examine whether the effects are conditional on individual demographic and smoking characteristics
Changes in use of types of tobacco products by pack sizes and price segments, prices paid and consumption following the introduction of plain packaging in Australia
Introduction of PP was associated with an increase in use of value brands, likely due to increased numbers available and smaller increases in prices for value relative to premium brands. Reported consumption declined following the December 2013 tax increase
Short-term changes in quitting-related cognitions and behaviours after the implementation of plain packaging with larger health warnings
These findings provide some of the strongest evidence to date that implementation of PP with larger GHWs was associated with increased rates of quitting cognitions, microindicators of concern and quit attempts among adult cigarette smokers
Use of illicit tobacco following introduction of standardised packaging of tobacco products in Australia
While unable to quantify the total extent of use of illicit manufactured cigarettes, in this large national survey we found no evidence in Australia of increased use of two categories of manufactured cigarettes likely to be contraband, no increase in purchase from informal sellers and no increased use of unbranded illicit 'chop-chop' tobacco
NGO s, IO s, and the ICC
Nongovernmental organizations ( NGO s) have become influential forces in global society. They exert their influence in part by framing issues and thereby suggesting particular courses of action. This article examines how NGO s with distinct missions represent mass violence for the case of Darfur. Content analysis of reports, speeches, and other documents from Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders, and Save Darfur reveals distinct pattern…
The silent salesman
Tobacco packs are frequently seen on table-tops in café strips, providing many opportunities for other patrons and passers-by to be incidentally exposed to cigarette brand names and imagery. Use of cigarette cases is rare, suggesting that smokers eventually habituate to pictorial warnings on branded packs and/or find repeated decanting of each newly purchased branded pack into a case to be inconvenient
American Indians without tribes in the twenty-first century
Among American Indians and Alaska Natives, most aspects of ethnicity are tightly associated with the person's tribal origins. Language, history, foods, land, and traditions differ among the hundreds of tribes indigenous to the United States. With this in mind, we ask why almost one million American Indians failed to respond to the tribal affiliation part of the Census 2000 race question. We investigate four hypotheses about why one-third of multi…
The Contributions of Hypertension Diagnosis and Blood Pressure Control to Subjective Life Expectancy in a Representative Sample of Older U.S. Adults
Older adults appear to recognize the harmful effects of hypertension and the benefits of BP control, but often lack knowledge of their own hypertension and BP control statuses. Health communications should continue to stress the value of BP control, although improvements may require increased hypertension awareness and BP monitoring
Education, Smoking, and Cohort Change
Sociologists interested in the effects of genes on complex social outcomes claim environmental conditions structure when and how genes matter, but they have only studied environmental moderation of genetic effects on single traits at a time (gene-by-environment interactions). In this article, we propose that the social environment can also transform the genetic link between two traits. Taking the relationship between educational attainment and sm…
American Indians without tribes in the twenty-first century
Among American Indians and Alaska Natives, most aspects of ethnicity are tightly associated with the person's tribal origins. Language, history, foods, land, and traditions differ among the hundreds of tribes indigenous to the United States. With this in mind, we ask why almost one million American Indians failed to respond to the tribal affiliation part of the Census 2000 race question. We investigate four hypotheses about why one-third of multi…
History, place, and racial self-representation in 21st century America
Women's Health
Women's health, and what we know about it, is influenced by social factors. From the exclusion of women's bodies in medical research, to the silence and stigma of menstruation and menopause, to the racism reflected in maternal mortality, the relevance of social factors is paramount. After a brief history of research on women's health, we review selected patterns, trends, and inequalities in US women's health. These patterns reveal US women's poor…
Do health trajectories predict neighborhood outcomes? Evidence of health selection in a diverse sample of U.S. adults
NGO s, IO s, and the ICC
Nongovernmental organizations ( NGO s) have become influential forces in global society. They exert their influence in part by framing issues and thereby suggesting particular courses of action. This article examines how NGO s with distinct missions represent mass violence for the case of Darfur. Content analysis of reports, speeches, and other documents from Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders, and Save Darfur reveals distinct pattern…
Geographic Patterns of Dementia in the United States
The sociospatial patterning of dementia suggests its development is a lifelong process involving cumulated and heterogeneous lived experiences embedded in place
Educational Disparities in Hypertension Prevalence and Blood Pressure Percentiles in the Health and Retirement Study
Among older U.S. adults, the distribution of BP is compressed at lower, healthier levels for those with more education, and skewed toward the highest, most harmful levels among those with less education. Educational inequities in hypertension awareness and treatment efficacy may underlie these patterns. Implications for fundamental cause theory are discussed
The Contributions of Hypertension Diagnosis and Blood Pressure Control to Subjective Life Expectancy in a Representative Sample of Older U.S. Adults
Older adults appear to recognize the harmful effects of hypertension and the benefits of BP control, but often lack knowledge of their own hypertension and BP control statuses. Health communications should continue to stress the value of BP control, although improvements may require increased hypertension awareness and BP monitoring
The silent salesman
Tobacco packs are frequently seen on table-tops in café strips, providing many opportunities for other patrons and passers-by to be incidentally exposed to cigarette brand names and imagery. Use of cigarette cases is rare, suggesting that smokers eventually habituate to pictorial warnings on branded packs and/or find repeated decanting of each newly purchased branded pack into a case to be inconvenient
American Indians without tribes in the twenty-first century
Among American Indians and Alaska Natives, most aspects of ethnicity are tightly associated with the person's tribal origins. Language, history, foods, land, and traditions differ among the hundreds of tribes indigenous to the United States. With this in mind, we ask why almost one million American Indians failed to respond to the tribal affiliation part of the Census 2000 race question. We investigate four hypotheses about why one-third of multi…
NGO s, IO s, and the ICC
Nongovernmental organizations ( NGO s) have become influential forces in global society. They exert their influence in part by framing issues and thereby suggesting particular courses of action. This article examines how NGO s with distinct missions represent mass violence for the case of Darfur. Content analysis of reports, speeches, and other documents from Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders, and Save Darfur reveals distinct pattern…
Australian adult smokers’ responses to plain packaging with larger graphic health warnings 1 year after implementation
The specific objectives of plain packaging were achieved and generally sustained among adult smokers up to 12 months after implementation
Personal pack display and active smoking at outdoor café strips
This study demonstrated a sustained reduction in visibility of tobacco products and smoking in public, particularly in the presence of children, from pre-PP to 1 year post-PP. This effect is likely to reduce smoking-related social norms, thereby weakening an important influence on smoking uptake and better supporting quit attempts
Are quitting-related cognitions and behaviours predicted by proximal responses to plain packaging with larger health warnings? Findings from a national cohort study with Australian adult smokers
These findings provide an initial insight into the pathways through which PP with larger GHWs may lead to changes in smoking behaviour. Future research should examine whether the effects are conditional on individual demographic and smoking characteristics
Changes in use of types of tobacco products by pack sizes and price segments, prices paid and consumption following the introduction of plain packaging in Australia
Introduction of PP was associated with an increase in use of value brands, likely due to increased numbers available and smaller increases in prices for value relative to premium brands. Reported consumption declined following the December 2013 tax increase
Short-term changes in quitting-related cognitions and behaviours after the implementation of plain packaging with larger health warnings
These findings provide some of the strongest evidence to date that implementation of PP with larger GHWs was associated with increased rates of quitting cognitions, microindicators of concern and quit attempts among adult cigarette smokers
Use of illicit tobacco following introduction of standardised packaging of tobacco products in Australia
While unable to quantify the total extent of use of illicit manufactured cigarettes, in this large national survey we found no evidence in Australia of increased use of two categories of manufactured cigarettes likely to be contraband, no increase in purchase from informal sellers and no increased use of unbranded illicit 'chop-chop' tobacco
History, place, and racial self-representation in 21st century America
Gene discovery and polygenic prediction from a genome-wide association study of educational attainment in 1.1 million individuals
Here we conducted a large-scale genetic association analysis of educational attainment in a sample of approximately 1.1 million individuals and identify 1,271 independent genome-wide-significant SNPs. For the SNPs taken together, we found evidence of heterogeneous effects across environments. The SNPs implicate genes involved in brain-development processes and neuron-to-neuron communication. In a separate analysis of the X chromosome, we identify…
Education, Smoking, and Cohort Change
Sociologists interested in the effects of genes on complex social outcomes claim environmental conditions structure when and how genes matter, but they have only studied environmental moderation of genetic effects on single traits at a time (gene-by-environment interactions). In this article, we propose that the social environment can also transform the genetic link between two traits. Taking the relationship between educational attainment and sm…
Extremes in Context
Do health trajectories predict neighborhood outcomes? Evidence of health selection in a diverse sample of U.S. adults
Physical Health Symptoms and Hurricane Katrina
Objectives. To examine how physical health symptoms developed and resolved in response to Hurricane Katrina. Methods. We used data from a 2003 to 2018 study of young, low-income mothers who were living in New Orleans, Louisiana, when Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005 (n = 276). We fit logistic regressions to model the odds of first reporting or “developing” headaches or migraines, back problems, and digestive problems, and of experiencing remissio…
Women's Health
Women's health, and what we know about it, is influenced by social factors. From the exclusion of women's bodies in medical research, to the silence and stigma of menstruation and menopause, to the racism reflected in maternal mortality, the relevance of social factors is paramount. After a brief history of research on women's health, we review selected patterns, trends, and inequalities in US women's health. These patterns reveal US women's poor…
Mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic in a longitudinal study of Hurricane Katrina survivors
While the COVID-19 pandemic is known to have caused widespread mental health challenges, it remains unknown how the prevalence, presentation, and predictors of mental health adversity during the pandemic compare to other mass crises. We shed light on this question using longitudinal survey data (2003-2021) from 424 low-income mothers who were affected by both the pandemic and Hurricane Katrina, which struck the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2005. The preval…
Geographic Patterns of Dementia in the United States
The sociospatial patterning of dementia suggests its development is a lifelong process involving cumulated and heterogeneous lived experiences embedded in place
Educational Disparities in Hypertension Prevalence and Blood Pressure Percentiles in the Health and Retirement Study
Among older U.S. adults, the distribution of BP is compressed at lower, healthier levels for those with more education, and skewed toward the highest, most harmful levels among those with less education. Educational inequities in hypertension awareness and treatment efficacy may underlie these patterns. Implications for fundamental cause theory are discussed
Lessons in adjusting for genetic confounding in population research on education and health
Social scientists often fit regression models with a range of covariates to infer causal effects in observational, population-based data, but the resulting estimates may be biased by unknown, unmeasured, and poorly measured confounders. Adjusting for genetic confounding using polygenic indices (PGIs) has been forwarded as one way to reduce this bias. However, whether and how relationships of interest to social scientists change when adjusting for…
State Policy Liberalism in Adolescence and Risk for Dementia from 2000 to 2016 among Older U.S. Adults
Although prior research identifies many social determinants of dementia, few studies look upstream toward dementia’s macrosocial correlates, and fewer still consider macrosocial conditions in early life. This study focuses on state policy contexts in adolescence and, specifically, on state policy liberalism, defined as the overarching conservative–liberal orientation of state policies. We link panel data from a nationally representative sample of…
The Contributions of Hypertension Diagnosis and Blood Pressure Control to Subjective Life Expectancy in a Representative Sample of Older U.S. Adults
Older adults appear to recognize the harmful effects of hypertension and the benefits of BP control, but often lack knowledge of their own hypertension and BP control statuses. Health communications should continue to stress the value of BP control, although improvements may require increased hypertension awareness and BP monitoring
Medicine (17 works) · Environmental health (11 works) · Demography (10 works) · Demography (9 works) · Psychology (9 works) · Sociology (8 works) · Logistic regression (7 works) · Population (7 works) · Geography (6 works) · Internal Medicine (6 works)