Abstract
There is no consensus on which parental socioeconomic indicators should be used to define adolescents’ socioeconomic status (SES). Utilising the data for 3154 parent-adolescent pairs obtained from the sample of the Survey of Lifestyle Value of Parents and Children 2011 conducted by the Cabinet Office in Japan, the associations between adolescent’s subjective economic status, parental SES (i.e. education, occupation, and household income), and child health-related outcomes (i.e. self-rated health, dietary and oral health behaviours) were analysed using multilevel mixed-effects ordered logistic regression to investigate heterogeneity in these relationships across SES indicators and health outcome measures. Results demonstrated that income was the strongest predictor of adolescent health outcomes, suggesting that adolescents in the middle- or high-income groups tended to report better health status compared to the low-income group, have a higher frequency of having breakfast, and more likely to regularly brush their teeth by 24% (OR 1.24, 95% CI [1.06–1.46]) to 66% (OR 1.66, 95% CI [1.30–2.12]). Parental education was also related to child health-related behaviours, with higher levels of habitual healthy behaviours being observed in the middle- and high-education groups than in the low-education group by 15% (OR 1.15, 95% CI [1.01–1.32]) to 63% (OR 1.63, 95% CI [1.31–2.03]). Future studies regarding health disparities among children/adolescents should carefully choose an SES indicator, taking multiple pathways between each SES indicator and health/health behaviours into consideration.
Highlights
There is no consensus on which parental socioeconomic indicators should be used to define adolescents’ socioeconomic status (SES)
This study investigated the association between different parental SES indicators and health-related outcomes of adolescents, using data from both adolescents and their parents, and linking adolescent-reported health-related outcomes to parental-reported SES indicators
Adolescent-reported economic status was associated with parentreported education, occupation, and household income, suggesting that adolescents’ subjective economic status may be used as an SES indicator for adolescents
Summary
There is no consensus on which parental socioeconomic indicators should be used to define adolescents’ socioeconomic status (SES). Socioeconomic status (SES) and health status during childhood are meaningful determinants of health in later life This relationship has received considerable academic attention (for reviews, see, for example, Galobardes et al.[1]). Adverse socioeconomic circumstances restrict an individual’s access to other means of investing in human capital (e.g. education) These conditions are likely to persist or worsen even after they become adults for children with adverse health and low SES2–4. For children and adolescents who are students, subjective social class (or economic well-being) or a Big 3 Variable of parents is frequently used to measure their SES17,20–25 Of these three commonly used SES indicators, income may reflect one’s level of SES better than the other measures and predict necessary resources to maintain good health[19], as income is mainly determined by occupation, which is influenced by educational attainment
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