Introduction to Biosocial Medicine: The Social, Psychological, and Biological Determinants of Human Behavior and Well-Being

On average, those who smoke, neglect to exercise, and imbibe die earlier than those who do not; on average, these have less formal education; on average, these are less wealthy and are minorities. On average, these perform less well on cognitive assessments and life satisfaction evaluations. Author Donald Barr leads us on and on down the rabbit hole of correlation and underlying cause until he reveals the reasons why some people excel financially, physically, and scholastically while others languish.

This work is stunning. The author, in his masterful, clinical way, reveals study upon study that prove that the two weightiest factors that determine success in all areas of life are developed by age twelve, and their improvement or utter neglect is almost entirely in the hands of an individual’s parents. This book not only shifted my perspective on the necessity of intervention in parents’ rearing of their children, it exposed me to the true burden of parenthood. Though the author intended this text to broaden perspectives on the roots of behavior and biosocial science, the true value of this book lies in the wisdom it offers to parents: if you wish your children to be their best, you must invest every effort into them.