Community, Family, and Subjective Socioeconomic Status: Relative Status and Adolescent Health

Overview

Journal Health Psychol

Specialty Public Health

Date 2014 Sep 16

PMID 25222085

Citations 22

Authors

Elizabeth C Quon

Jennifer J McGrath

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objective: Relative socioeconomic status (SES) may be an important social determinant of health. The current study aimed to examine how relative SES, as measured by subjective SES, income inequality, and individual SES relative to others in the community, is associated with a wide range of adolescent health outcomes, after controlling for objective family SES.

Method: Adolescents (13-16 years; N = 2,199) from the Quebec Child and Adolescent Health and Social Survey were included. Socioeconomic measures included adolescents' subjective SES; parental education and household income; community education/employment, income, and poverty rate; and community income inequality. Health outcomes included self-rated health, mental health problems, dietary and exercise health behaviors, substance-related health behaviors, reported physical health, and biomarkers of health. Best-fitting multilevel regression models (participants nested within schools) were used to test associations.

Results: Findings indicated that lower subjective SES was associated with poorer health outcomes. After accounting for family SES, lower community education/employment had an additional negative effect on health, while lower community income had a protective effect for certain health outcomes. There was less evidence for an independent effect of income inequality.

Conclusions: Findings highlight the importance of measures of relative SES that span across a number of levels and contexts, and provide further understanding into the socioeconomic gradient in adolescence.

Citing Articles

Impact of family socio-economic status on the prognosis of heart transplantation in children.

Liu S, Mo H, Zhao Y, Chen X, Wang W, Li Y BMC Public Health. 2025; 25(1):335.

PMID: 39871244 PMC: 11770901. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-025-21363-w.

Lower subjective status is associated with reduced satiation and satiety among children and adolescents: A laboratory study.

Cheon B, Brown A, Bittner J, Saha A, Smith M, Bloomer B Appetite. 2024; 206:107811.

PMID: 39643085 PMC: 11769737. DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2024.107811.

What do we mean when we talk about socioeconomic status? Implications for measurement, mechanisms and interventions from a critical review on adolescent mental health.

Zaneva M, Dumbalska T, Reeves A, Bowes L Gen Psychiatr. 2024; 37(6):e101455.

PMID: 39563944 PMC: 11575261. DOI: 10.1136/gpsych-2023-101455.

Contributions of subjective status to eating behaviors, obesity, and metabolic health across development.

Cheon B, Bittner J, Pink A Appetite. 2024; 204:107735.

PMID: 39481682 PMC: 11609012. DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2024.107735.

Lower subjective social status is associated with increased adiposity and self-reported eating in the absence of hunger due to negative affect among children reporting teasing distress.

Cheon B, Smith M, Bittner J, Loch L, Haynes H, Bloomer B J Pediatr Psychol. 2024; 49(7):462-472.

PMID: 38637284 PMC: 11258810. DOI: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsae024.

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