Socioeconomic inequalities in general and psychological health among adolescents: a cross-sectional study in senior high schools in Greece.

Konstantina Magklara,Petros Skapinakis,Venetsanos Mavreas,Stylianos Stylianidis,Anastasia Zissi,Dimitrios Niakas,Stefanos Bellos

doi:10.1186/1475-9276-9-3

Konstantina Magklara, Petros Skapinakis + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-9276-9-3

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Abstract

BackgroundSocioeconomic health inequalities in adolescence are not consistently reported. This may be due to the measurement of self-reported general health, which probably fails to fully capture the psychological dimension of health, and the reliance on traditional socio-economic indicators, such as parental education or occupational status. The present study aimed at investigating this issue using simple questions to assess both the physical and psychological dimension of health and a broader set of socioeconomic indicators than previously used.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional survey of 5614 adolescents aged 16-18 years-old from 25 senior high schools in Greece. Self-reported general and psychological health were both measured by means of a simple Likert-type question. We assessed the following socio-economic variables: parents' education, parents' employment status, a subjective assessment of the financial difficulties experienced by the family and adolescents' own academic performance as a measure of the personal social position in the school setting.ResultsOne out of ten (10%) and one out of three (32%) adolescents did not enjoy good general and psychological health respectively. For both health variables robust associations were found in adolescents who reported more financial difficulties in the family and had worse academic performance. The latter was associated with psychological health in a more linear way. Father's unemployment showed a non-significant trend for an association with worse psychological health in girls only.ConclusionsSocioeconomic inequalities exist in this period of life but are more easily demonstrated with more subjective socioeconomic indicators, especially for the psychological dimension of health.

Highlights

Socioeconomic health inequalities in adolescence are not consistently reported
We studied a number of socioeconomic status variables, but we found robust associations only for the subjective assessment of the presence of financial difficulties in the family and the adolescents’ own assessment of their academic performance in school
The more objective socioeconomic status variables of parental education and employment/occupational status were not associated with health status in the fully adjusted model, but father’s unemployment showed a non-significant trend for an association with worse psychological health in girls only

Summary

Introduction

Socioeconomic health inequalities in adolescence are not consistently reported. This may be due to the measurement of self-reported general health, which probably fails to fully capture the psychological dimension of health, and the reliance on traditional socio-economic indicators, such as parental education or occupational status. Some studies have attempted at assessing adolescents’ own socioeconomic status on the grounds of their own educational level or current occupation [17]. This is not possible in countries where most of the adolescents remain in schools until the age of 18 years. In these countries academic performance in school has been used as an alternative estimation of adolescent’s own social position revealing significant associations with health status [18]

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