1. My area of research is Division I student-athletes' access to and use of health and wellbeing resources. I believe that there are many social determinants relevant to my area of research. I think that the most topical include:
a - Structural stratifiers, like family income level, parental education, level of financial aid, race/ethnicity
b - Intermediary determinants, like sports team, whether or not the student is employed, GPA, feelings of fear and shame, whether or not they've seen a counselor before, gender, open-ness of the coach
I chose these factors for a few reasons. First, I remember from my Sociology classes in high school that race/ethnicity and SES levels, particularly as measured by income levels and parental education, tend to dictate how a person communicates with health providers. For that reason, I included the above as potential structural stratifiers, which for the most part, I believe function intergenerationally. Based on conversations with current and former Division I athletes, I chose the other intermediary determinants, which vary widely in what they cover but all seem to have some effect on how this population accesses health resources. I believe that these factors mostly function over the lifecourse.
2. As far as I know, there are no socioecological frameworks that have been applied to my area of research, which means that there are plenty of opportunities for improving our understanding of and approach to disparities in my area with a greater emphasis on the socioecological framework. I look forward to working on it and developing it within this class.