Predicting Health Problems
METHOD NOTES SPECIFIC TO THIS PAGE: The following regression analysis presents predictive values with respect to the question "have you experienced health issues due to your work in comics?" - it utilizes data from 478 participants (271 were excluded from analysis due to missing information; participants who did not provide responses to questions which generated one or more of the variables used were not included in this particular analysis). Four separate regression analyses were conducted with this combination of variables, their findings presented in the models below:
Model 1 presents the findings with respect to gender.
"Men" were held as the point of comparison (represented by the "constant"), with all three gender variables included receiving highly significant results. Compared to men, women were 40.4% less likely to have health problems due to their work in comics. Similarly, Nonbinary participants were 61.9% less likely to have health problems due to their work in comics, and participants with other gender identities were 61.4% less likely than men to have health problems related to their comics work.
Model 2 adds sexuality variables to the conditions of the previous analyses.
Holding "men" and "heterosexual" as the points of comparison, this model accounts for the impact of individual marginalized gender/sexual identities simultaneously. Significant relationships were identified for women, nonbinary participants, gay or lesbian participants, and bisexuals; each group was less likely to accrue injury than heterosexuals or men. After accounting for sexuality, women were found to be 45.1% less likely to have health problems related to their work in comics than male participants, while nonbinary participants were 41.2% less likely. Bisexual participants were found to be 47.5% less likely to have health problems related to their work in comics than heterosexual participants were, and gay/lesbian participants were found to be 72.8% less likely to have health problems related to their comics work. While similar trends were present among those with other genders or sexual identities, findings for those particular groups were not significant.
Model 3 adds variables representing marginalized racial/ethnic groups to the conditions of the previous analysis.
Holding "men", "heterosexual", and "White" as the points of comparison, this model accounts for the impact of individual gender groups, sexual identities, and races/ethnicities simultaneously. Several groups presented nearly identical findings once accounting for racial/ethnic identities were included in the analysis: Women, gay/lesbian participants, and bisexuals each were found to have comparable rates of health problems due to their comics work. Other sexualities were found to be approaching statistical significance in this model (when this finding was insignificant in the previous analysis), while nonbinary identity no longer presented a significant finding. Generally, while race/ethnicity was not found to be a significant factor in one's health status, relationship trends indicate that (at least anecdotally) Black, Latinx/Hispanic, and East Asian participants may experience more health problems related to their comics work than White participants do. This particular finding may be limited by the relatively small number of participants who were people of color - it is possible that these results may be rendered insignificant due to their small numbers within the data, rather than a truly significant lack of health problems for those groups.
Model 4 adds occupational variables which represent various labor positions within the comics industry to the conditions of the previous analysis.
No additional points of comparison were added for the final analysis - leaving "men", "heterosexuals", and "White" participants as points of comparison. Gender identity lost all significance once occupation was accounted for in the analysis; while women and nonbinary respondents display trends which suggest anecdotal relationships they were no longer significantly related to having health problems due to comics work. Conversely, all three sexual identities accounted for in this analysis held significant relationships: gay or lesbian participants were 73.2% less likely to have health problems related to their comics work than heterosexual participants, bisexuals were 53.2% less likely to have health problems related to their comics work, and other sexual minorities were found to be approximately 49% less likely than heterosexual participants to have health problems related to their comics work once occupation was accounted for. Findings around race/ethnicity seemed to maintain a comparable result to model 3 - while relationship trends suggest disparities among these groups, none of these are found to be statistically significant. Among the occupational variables accounted for, only two labor positions yielded significant results: colorists were 66.5% less likely to have health problems related to their work in comics than those from other labor positions, while pencil artists were 56.2% less likely to have health problems related to their work in comics. While the findings for other positions were not statistically significant, the relationship trends identified in the analysis suggest that (at least anecdotally) writers, inkers, letterers, concept artists, and designers may be more likely to accrue health problems which are related to their comics work.
What does this mean?
This set of analyses sought to investigate the likelihood that certain demographic factors would impact participants' health status - specifically around the health problems they had encountered due to working in comics. Generally, marginalized gender or sexual identities tended to have a negative relationship with health problems. While participants who were marginalized in terms of gender or sexuality were found to be less likely to have health problems due to their comics work, these findings were not consistent across models, and gender seemed to play less of a role in determining health status once occupation was accounted for. This was not true for sexual orientation, suggesting that perhaps the reason queer workers have a lower likelihood of health problems due to their work is the fact that they are generally marginalized from the industry.
While race and ethnicity were not found to be statistically significant factors in predicting the likelihood of health issues due to comics work, the trends which emerged were consistent and illustrative of disparities which are anecdotally familiar: Black, Latinx/Hispanic, and East Asian participants reported consistently higher rates of health issues due to their comics work than White participants - suggesting labor conditions which could expect more labor (or more labor-intensive work) for those groups workers than their White counterparts. Other racial/ethnic groups generally had lower rates of health problems due to their work in comics than other groups (including White participants), but it is unclear whether this is due to marginalization from the industry or other, more individualized circumstances.
Aside from demographic factors, artists were found to have the lowest significant likelihood of health problems due to their comics work. This finding is surprising, given the standard workload for pencil and color artists in comics. While their results were not statistically significant, the trends which suggest that labor positions such as writing, lettering, and design were more likely to produce health problems among participants were similarly surprising. The implications of these two findings suggest that while artists undoubtedly have high workloads within comics, it is possible that the awareness of such a workload may serve as a safeguard against injury (i.e. artists may be more prone to adopt protective measures - via wrist braces, etc. - to prevent physical injury). This could also explain why the trends presented among other positions suggest higher rates of health problems; workers who do not expect issues may be more inclined to accidentally accrue health issues (via overworking, poor ergonomics, etc.).