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Click here to view Dr. Wickrama's
Curriculum Vitae (CV)
The program of study in
which K.A.S. Wikrama has increased knowledge is in
the area of physical health outcomes. His research
has demonstrated the significance of factors such as
parental education, occupational conditions and family
economic pressure in influencing children's outcomes
related to physical health, mental health,
health-related behaviors and achievements.
Several
mediating mechanisms through which social factors
influence physical health outcomes have been identified.
For example, Wickrama's research has demonstrated that
occupational quality influences the physical health
status of both wives and husbands through its influence
on social integration, marital integration and sense of
control. He also demonstrated the influence of parental
education on change in physical health status of
adolescents through the quality of parent-child
relationships. Additional analysis showed the
inter-generational influence of parents' health-risk
behavior on adolescents' health-risk behaviors through
the qualities of parental and social relationships. By
doing so, we were able to link distal socioeconomic
factors to physical health status through micro-level
proximal processes (proximal conditions).
His research
also has demonstrated gender differences in influences
of marital, parental and work experiences on health.
Results showed that despite the increasing involvement
of women in the labor force and increasing involvement
of men in household responsibilities, parental
experiences have a greater impact on women's health than
men's health and work experiences have a greater impact
on men's health than on women's health.
Recent
analyses have focused on the influence of socioeconomic
factors on the age of onset of chronic conditions and
diseases. Results show that the timing of onset of
diseases and chronic conditions, such as hypertension,
is significantly influenced by the level of chronic
family stressors.
His
current research also has focused on multi-level
additive and multiplicative processes through which
community, family, work, and race influence one's mental
and physical health. His research has disentangled
several mechanisms that link distal social factors such
as community, family adversities and race/ethnicity to
physical and mental health outcomes among adolescents
and adults. These mechanisms include minority status,
social integration, lifestyle, marital relationships,
and parent-child relationships.
Because
these microsocial factors and mediating proximal
environments are more modifiable than distal risk
factors, these findings are certainly important for the
formulation of policies and for effective implementation
of health promotion programs.
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