Original articlePerceived Socioeconomic Status: A New Type of Identity That Influences Adolescents’ Self-Rated Health
Section snippets
Study sample and procedures
This study uses data from the Princeton School District (PSD) Study, a prospective study from a single Midwestern suburban public school system with one junior high school and one senior high school [14]. The Princeton City School District is a well-defined geographic area that includes six diverse, independent, incorporated communities plus unincorporated areas of Hamilton and Butler Counties (Ohio). Approval for the cohort study was received from the Institutional Review Boards at the
Description of SSS across the four waves of data collection
Mean SSS (SD) across the four waves was as follows; wave 1, μ = 6.65 (1.34); wave 2 μ = 6.65 (1.38); wave 3 μ = 6.66(1.36); and wave 4 μ = 6.60 (1.35). Although these mean values are nearly identical, there was substantial within-person variation in SSS (F = 3.78, p = .01) and a significant linear trend across the four waves (linear contrast F = 6.94, p = .009). Between waves 1 and 2, only 35.0% had identical SSS at both waves and the within-person change in SSS ranged from −7 to +8. Although
Discussion
In this study, adolescents’ perceptions of their family’s socioeconomic status was shaped by multiple social factors, including age, race, and objective SES. As youth developed, a complex pattern of relationships emerged between these factors that influenced how perceptions of family SES changed over time. These data suggest that internalized beliefs of family socioeconomic position could be understood as a type of identity akin to gender and racial/ethnic identity. Further, the robust
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by National Institutes of Health grants HD41527 and DK59183, the William T. Grant Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The authors thank Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Ph.D., for comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript, as well as the students, parents, teachers, administration and staff of the Princeton City School district and the PSD study staff.
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2022, Multiple Sclerosis and Related DisordersCitation Excerpt :Body mass index (BMI) was calculated as weight (kg)/height (m)2 and categorised according to WHO guidelines (World Health Organization, 2021). Socioeconomic status was assessed by the Perceived Relative Socioeconomic Scale (PRSES; (Goodman et al., 2007). Employment status (full-time/part-time/self-employed/home duties/student/retired/unemployed) and highest educational level attained (no schooling/primary school/secondary school/vocational/university/postgraduate) were categorised as employed (No/Yes) and university education (No/Yes), respectively.