Predictors of mental and physical health: Individual and neighborhood levels of education, social well-being, and ethnicity

This study examines how education benefits health through social well-being in Hawaii where the centrality of community life is underscored. The 2007 Hawaii Health Survey with linked zip-code information was used to investigate the effects of education at both individual and neighborhood levels using mixed-effects models. Geographic Information System was applied to map the geographical distributions of education, social well-being, and health. It was found that individual-level education benefits mental health and its effects are largely mediated by respondents' employment status and their social well-being (social integration, social contribution, social actualization, and social coherence). Both individual and neighborhood-level education promotes physical health and their effects are partially mediated by economic well-being and two indicators of social well-being (social integration and social coherence). Results of this study suggest the independent effects of two levels of education on physical health and the importance of education and social well-being to both mental and physical health in the State of Hawaii.