ArticleAnnual review of sociology2021
A retrospective on fundamental cause theory: State of the literature, and goals for the future.
Article in Annual review of sociology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 103 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
103 citing papers in PubMed.
- Effect of a multicomponent school-based intervention with parental involvement on socioeconomic inequalities in smoking initiation: equity impact analysis of the TOPAS study.Journal of epidemiology and community health · 2025Trial
- The Long Arm of Childhood Policy: Historical Schooling Laws and COVID-19 Pandemic-era Mortality.Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2026Article
- Industrial Air Toxicant Exposure and Individual Mortality: Evidence from the Americans' Changing Lives Cohort, 1986-2019.Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2026Article
- Beyond income: financial hardship as a pathway from socioeconomic disadvantage to depression among middle and older cancer survivors.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2026Article
- Exploring the role of class stigma in socioeconomic inequalities in type 2 diabetes: The Maastricht Study.Journal of health psychology · 2026Article
- Feeding health inequality through platform-based food delivery in China.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- The social environment and cognitive aging over the life course: laying out critical concepts and research gaps.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Review
- Keeping PeopleInternational journal of social determinants of health and health services · 2026Article
- Understanding one First Nations community's ways of healing from historical trauma.Psychological trauma : theory, research, practice and policy · 2026Article
- Ethno-Racial Disparities in COVID-Related Stress and Mental Health Problems: Bridging Fundamental Cause Theory and the Stress Process Model.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2026Article
- Social connection and cognitive health: A review of concepts, measures, and research priorities.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Review
- Rethinking Obesity Prevention: A Call for Strategic and Operational Clarity.Current obesity reports · 2026Review
- Social determinants of oral health among adults in Saudi Arabia: a narrative review.The Saudi dental journal · 2026Review
- The impact of COVID-19 vaccine distribution channels on equity-deserving populations: a Canadian population-based cohort study using administrative data.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Chains of Exchange: The Iterative Process of Resource-Health Conversion.Social theory & health : STH · 2026Article
- The line is drawn, the fate is cast: urban-rural inequalities in the timing of initial health check-ups in China.Frontiers in sociology · 2026Article
- The Healthy Smoker Paradox: Socioeconomic status as a fundamental cause of reversed anemia risk among Yemeni youth.PloS one · 2026Article
- The geography of American longevity: structural determinants of a 20-year life expectancy divide and a federal policy blueprint.Frontiers in public health · 2026Review
- Changes in the Education-Health Gradient Within U.S. States, 1993-2019.Population research and policy review · 2026Article
- Cognitive Aging in the Context of the Housing Crisis: Trends and Evidence From the Health and Retirement Study.Canadian studies in population · 2026Article
43 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Fundamental Cause Theory (FCT) was originally proposed to explain how socioeconomic inequalities in health emerged and persisted over time. The concept was that higher socioeconomic status helped some people to avoid risks and adopt protective strategies using flexible resources - knowledge, money, power, prestige and beneficial social connections. As a sociological theory, FCT addressed this issue by calling on social stratification, stigma, and racism as they affected medical treatments and health outcomes. The last comprehensive review was completed a decade ago. Since then, FCT has been tested, and new applications have extended central features. The current review consolidates key
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.