Research Publications

Is Home Birth a Choice? Racial and Geographic Differences in Unintended Home Births in the U.S.

Anna De La Paz

The U.S. hit a 30-year high for home births in 2023. Unintended home births (i.e., those without planning or medical support) carry a higher likelihood of adverse outcomes. Rates of unintended home births are low among non-Hispanic White women (6–8%) but range from 33–61% among non-Hispanic Black women, depending on region and metro status.

April 7, 2026

How Does County Educational Composition Affect Mortality?

Heeyoung Lee and Tse-Chuanang

This brief examines how a county's educational makeup affects mortality rates for both BA holders and non-BA holders. The authors find a troubling pattern: as the share of BA holders in a county increases, mortality declines for BA holders but increases for non-BA holders.

December 9, 2025

How Does County Industry Mix Matter for Working-Age Mortality?

Xue Zhang, Iliya Gutin, Shannon M. Monnat, and Jennifer Karas Montez

This brief summarizes findings of a study that examined how five major employment sectors—agriculture, manufacturing, mining and construction, services, and professional services—are associated with working-age mortality rates across U.S. counties from 2000 to 2022. The authors find that the effects of local industries vary across time and cause of death.

October 28, 2025

See related: United States

Adult ADHD is Linked to Higher Illicit Drug Use and Prescription Drug Misuse

Andrew S. London, Kevin M. Antshel, Joshua Grove, Iliya Gutin, and Shannon M. Monnat

This brief summarizes findings from a study that describes differences in lifetime and past-year use of 7 illicit drugs (marijuana, cocaine, crack cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl, and hallucinogens) and misuse of 4 categories of prescription medications (opioids, tranquilizers, sedatives, and stimulants) between U.S. adults ages 18-64 with and without ADHD in 2023. The authors find that adults with ADHD are 1.6 to 3.3 times more likely to report past-year illicit drug use or prescription drug misuse than those without ADHD.

October 14, 2025

See related: United States

State COVID-19 Policies and Drug Overdose Mortality Among Working-Age Adults in the US, 2020

Douglas A. Wolf, Shannon M. Monnat, Emily E. Wiemers, Yue Sun, Xue Zhang, Elyse R. Grossman, Jennifer Karas Montez

“State COVID-19 Policies and Drug Overdose Mortality Among Working-Age Adults in the United States, 2020,” co-authored by Maxwell faculty members Douglas Wolf, Shannon Monnat, Emily Weimers and Jennifer Karas Montez, was published in the American Journal of Public Health.

May 20, 2024

Social Infrastructure Availability and Suicide Rates among Working-Age Adults in the United States

Xue Zhang, Danielle C. Rhubart, Shannon M. Monnat

“Social Infrastructure Availability and Suicide Rates among Working-Age Adults in the United States,” co-authored by Professor of Sociology Shannon Monnat, was published in Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World.

April 10, 2024

See related: Mental Health, United States

Infant Mortality Rates Vary Substantially across Regions of the United States

Marissa Merrifield

This data slice uses data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to compare infant mortality rates by geographic region in the U.S. between 2017-2021.

February 27, 2024

Geographically Specific Associations Between County-Level Socioeconomic Distress and Mortality

Xue Zhang, Shannon M. Monnat

"Geographically specific associations between county-level socioeconomic and household distress and mortality from drug poisoning, suicide, alcohol, and homicide among working-age adults in the United States," co-authored by Professor of Sociology Shannon Monnat, was published in SSM - Population Health.

January 11, 2024

Bridging the Gap: Reducing Disparities in Reproductive Healthcare for Black and White Women

Emma Weiden

This brief summarizes disparities in reproductive healthcare outcomes for Black women compared to White women in the U.S., advocates for policy changes, and provides recommendations for addressing racial disparities to create more equitable reproductive healthcare.

December 12, 2023

Counting Disability in the National Health Interview Survey and Its Consequence

Scott D. Landes, Bonnielin K. Swenor, Nastassia Vaitsiakhovich

"Counting disability in the National Health Interview Survey and its consequence: Comparing the American Community Survey to the Washington Group disability measures," co-authored by Scott Landes, associate professor of sociology, was published in Disability and Health Journal.

December 6, 2023

Stronger Regulations on Air Pollution Could Reduce Cardiovascular Disease Mortality Rates

Yue Sun

Cutting air pollution to match the World Health Organization’s proposed standards could have prevented over 300,000 cardiovascular disease deaths in 2016-18.

December 5, 2023

Electoral Democracy and Working-Age Mortality

Jennifer Karas Montez, Kent Jason Cheng, Jacob M. Grumbach

"Electoral Democracy and Working-Age Mortality," co-authored by University Professor Jennifer Karas Montez and social science Ph.D. student Kent Cheng, was published in The Milbank Quarterly.

July 10, 2023

See related: Longevity, U.S. Elections, United States

Demographic and Geographic Variation in Fatal Drug Overdoses in the United States, 1999–2020

Shannon Monnat

"Demographic and Geographic Variation in Fatal Drug Overdoses in the United States, 1999–2020," authored by Shannon Monnat, professor of sociology, was published in the ANNALS of of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.

March 20, 2023

Prescription Opioid Resiliency and Vulnerability: A Mixed-Methods Comparative Case Study

Shannon Monnat, Andy Hochstetler, David J. Peters

"Prescription Opioid Resiliency and Vulnerability: A Mixed-Methods Comparative Case Study," co-authored by Professor of Sociology Shannon Monnat, was published in American Journal of Criminal Justice.

November 28, 2022

The Unequal Burden of Long COVID

Marc A. Garcia, Catherine García, and Erin Bisesti

This data slice summarizes data from the U.S. Census Household Pulse Survey and reports that although there are no significant racial/ethnic differences in overall activity limitations from long COVID, a higher percentage of Black and Hispanic/Latino adults report experiencing “significant” activity limitations compared to Whites.

November 16, 2022

New Research by Landes Finds COVID-19 Was Leading Cause of Death Among People with IDD in 2020

Scott Landes, Julia Finan, Margaret Turk

The COVID-19 mortality burden was greater for people with than without IDD during the first year of the pandemic.

September 20, 2022

See related: COVID-19, Longevity

Self-Rated Physical Health Among Working-Aged Adults Along the Rural-Urban Continuum — US, 2021

Danielle Rhubart, Shannon Monnat

"Self-Rated Physical Health Among Working-Aged Adults Along the Rural-Urban Continuum — United States, 2021," co-authored by Professor Shannon Monnat, was published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

August 29, 2022

See related: Health Policy, Longevity, Social Justice

Rural-Urban and Within-Rural Differences in COVID-19 Mortality Rates

Yue Sun, Kent Jason G. Cheng, Shannon Monnat

June 23, 2022