This study examines the association between socioeconomic position (SEP) and health behaviors, and mortality in a longitudinal cohort of British civil servants. The research found that individuals with lower SEP had a significantly higher risk of mortality compared to those with higher SEP. Health behaviors such as smoking, alcohol consumption, diet, and physical activity were found to significantly explain the socioeconomic differences in mortality. When health behaviors were assessed at baseline, the association between SEP and mortality was attenuated, but when health behaviors were assessed repeatedly over time, the association was further reduced. The study found that health behaviors explained a substantial portion of the socioeconomic gradient in mortality, with diet, physical activity, and alcohol consumption playing a particularly important role. The results suggest that changes in health behaviors over time contribute to the social inequalities in mortality. The study also highlights the importance of considering changes in health behaviors when examining their role in social inequalities. The findings indicate that health policies and interventions targeting individual health behaviors have the potential to reduce health inequalities. However, if health behaviors are socially patterned, such policies may inadvertently increase social inequalities. The study's main strengths include the repeated assessment of health behaviors over a long period and the use of a bootstrap method to calculate confidence intervals. The study's limitations include the focus on a white-collar population and the potential for bias due to missing data. Overall, the study underscores the importance of health behaviors in explaining social inequalities in mortality and the need to consider changes in health behaviors over time when examining their role in social inequalities.This study examines the association between socioeconomic position (SEP) and health behaviors, and mortality in a longitudinal cohort of British civil servants. The research found that individuals with lower SEP had a significantly higher risk of mortality compared to those with higher SEP. Health behaviors such as smoking, alcohol consumption, diet, and physical activity were found to significantly explain the socioeconomic differences in mortality. When health behaviors were assessed at baseline, the association between SEP and mortality was attenuated, but when health behaviors were assessed repeatedly over time, the association was further reduced. The study found that health behaviors explained a substantial portion of the socioeconomic gradient in mortality, with diet, physical activity, and alcohol consumption playing a particularly important role. The results suggest that changes in health behaviors over time contribute to the social inequalities in mortality. The study also highlights the importance of considering changes in health behaviors when examining their role in social inequalities. The findings indicate that health policies and interventions targeting individual health behaviors have the potential to reduce health inequalities. However, if health behaviors are socially patterned, such policies may inadvertently increase social inequalities. The study's main strengths include the repeated assessment of health behaviors over a long period and the use of a bootstrap method to calculate confidence intervals. The study's limitations include the focus on a white-collar population and the potential for bias due to missing data. Overall, the study underscores the importance of health behaviors in explaining social inequalities in mortality and the need to consider changes in health behaviors over time when examining their role in social inequalities.