Institute of Sociology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic

The association between the family and psychological and physical health has become a major theme in the sociological, demographic, and epidemiological literatures. On the one hand, significant attention has been devoted to the consequences of conjugal status and parenthood forthe health status and behavior of individuals (research axis family → health). On the other hand, an increasing number of studies focus on the question of how families rearrange themselves todeal with health problems among their members (research axis health  family). The importanceof the link between the family and health was established in a number of studies from variouscountries but comparative research is relatively rare. This is true despite the fact that there areempirical as well as theoretical reasons to expect substantial cross-national variation and despitethe fact that comparative research could significantly improve our understanding of the linkbetween the family and health. The goal of this project is to fill this gap and to study the variationin the association between the family and health across countries and social groups. At the sametime, special attention will be paid to the Czech case. This will be done through our participationin the international comparative project International Social Survey Program (ISSP 2011 –Health & ISSP 2012 – Family Modules).