Social, cultural, economic, and bio

Social, cultural, economic, and biological factors are widely recognized as critical determinants of well-being across the life course. Yet an integrative understanding of the multilevel biosocial pathways linking society, biology, health, and socio-economic attainment remains elusive. The objective of this special issue is to showcase research that integrates theory, data, and methods from the social and biological sciences to advance our understanding of social and biological processes that contribute to, or derive from, social stratification across the life course. In this introduction we describe the state of current research, and discuss the motivation for, and relevant concepts underlying, a biosocial perspective. We review the themes and research contributions in this special issue, and chart a course forward for understanding biosocial pathways of well-being across the life course.