Perceived Socioeconomic Status: A New Type of Identity That Influences Adolescents’ Self-Rated Health
2007
Abstract Purpose The cognitive, social, and biological transitions of adolescence suggest that subjective perceptions of
social positionbased on the
socioeconomichierarchy may undergo important changes during this period; yet how such perceptions develop is poorly understood, and no studies have assessed whether changes in such perceptions influence
adolescents'
health. This study describes adolescents' subjective perceptions of familial
socioeconomic status(
SSS), how
SSSchanges over time, and how age, race, and objective
socioeconomic status(SES) indicators influence
SSS. In addition, the study determines whether
SSSindependently influences adolescents'
self-rated health, an important predictor of morbidity and health service use. Methods A total of 1179 non-Hispanic black and white baseline 7–12th graders from a Midwestern public school district completed a validated, teen-specific measure of
SSSannually for 4 consecutive years. A parent provided information on SES. Markov modeling assessed transitions in
SSSover time. Results
SSSdeclined with age ( p = .001) and stabilized among older teens. In addition to age, SES and race, but not gender, were significant correlates of
SSS, but the relationships between these factors were complex. In cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses, black teens from families with low parent education had higher
SSSthan white teens from similarly educated families, whereas white teens from highly educated families had higher
SSSthan black teens from highly educated families. Lower
SSSand changes in
SSSpredicted poor
self-rated healtheven when adjusting for race and objective SES measures. Conclusion Subjective evaluations of
socioeconomic statuspredict adolescents' global health ratings even when adjusting for the sociodemographic factors that shape them.
Keywords:
-
Correction
-
Source
-
Cite
-
Save
41
References
242
Citations
NaN
KQI