Influence Of SES Research Articles

An investigation of family SES-based inequalities in depressive symptoms from early adolescence to emerging adulthood

Using the life course cumulative advantage/disadvantage (CAD) perspective, this study examines the influence of early family SES on trajectories of depressive symptoms spanning from early adolescence to early adulthood, as well as variations in SES-based inequality in depressive symptoms trajectories over this period. This study looks at direct influences of family SES and SES-age interactions (exposure-dependent CAD mechanisms), as well as indirect influences through SES-linked youth experiences (path-dependent CAD mechanisms) to explain variations in SES-based inequality. Data was derived from the Add Health study- a national longitudinal survey of 14,000 adolescents. Results showed large and significant effects of early family SES and associated factors on depressive symptoms in early adolescence, but diminishing effects in middle and late adolescence, supporting the hypothesis of equalization in adolescent health across levels of SES. Disparities in depression reemerged as adolescents entered adulthood, supporting the view that SES-based health equalization is only a temporary process. These findings also strengthen the concept of life course CAD processes, stemming from family characteristics, coming into play later in life. Early family SES was directly and indirectly related to a set of transition-related risks and challenges during emerging adulthood, to which young adults from families of higher SES responded more effectively than those of lower SES. This paper discusses theoretical and methodological implications of the findings.

Socio‐demographic factors influence chronic proton pump inhibitor use by a large population in the Netherlands

Chronic proton pump inhibitor (PPI) use is common in the Western world. Socio-economic status and socio-demographic factors have been shown to influence decisions related to prescribing of various drugs, but the influence of these factors on chronic PPI use is uncertain. To study the influence of SES and socio-demographic factors on chronic PPI use. Data were collected from a database of a Dutch health insurance company. Subjects having had at least one prescription for a PPI were identified and followed up for 6 months. Patients were then subdivided into chronic PPI users. Socio-demographic status was based on neighbourhood level of residence. Logistic regression was performed to determine socio-demographic factors associated with PPI use. A total of 2 001 787 insured individuals were included, 85 253 subjects were chronic users. Both low income (OR 1.55; CI 1.52-1.58) and low educational level (OR 1.33; CI 1.31-1.36) were associated with chronic PPI use. Other independent predictive variables included use of 10 or more concomitant medications (OR 5.33; CI 4.96-5.72) and the use of prokinetic drugs (OR 10.01; CI 9.22-10.88). Patients of a lower socio-demographic status are more likely to use PPIs on a chronic basis. The observed gradient in PPIs use may reflect differences in health, healthcare use or healthcare supply.

Roles of gender, race, and SES in the college choice process among first-generation and nonfirst-generation students.

The authors examined students’ reports of their college choice process to understand the influence of a set of psychological, personal, and institutional factors. The authors also examined potential moderating influences of generational status, gender, race, and SES on our variables of interest. A diverse sample of college freshmen (N 1,339), including 42% who were the first in their families to attend college, responded to a self-reporting, Web-based survey. Findings indicate that psychosocial factors and academic quality of the college were most influential for first-generation students as compared to their nonfirst-generation peers in the college choice process. However, gender, race, and SES moderated these influences in complex ways. For example, females rated the psychological variables higher than males; Asian American and African American first-generation students rated higher than their parents’ preferences for which college to attend as compared to nonfirst-generation peers. First-generation females, African American in particular, considered academic quality more important than other groups. Our findings should be of value to counselors and other personnel who facilitate students’ college choice process as well as college recruitment, retention, and diversity enhancement programs.

Demographic and Social Variables Associated with Psychiatric and School-Related Indicators for Asian/Pacific-Islander Adolescents

Factors associated with Asian/Pacific-Islander adolescent adjustment is a greatly neglected research area. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relation between demographic, social and adjustment measures based on a large-scale investigation of Asian/Pacific-Islander youths. A total of 2577 adolescents were surveyed across 4 public schools in Hawai'i during the 1992--1993 school year. Three social variables (number of relatives frequently seen, family support and friends' support) exhibited statistically significant but low correlations. Family support had the highest negative association with the four psychiatric symptoms (depression, anxiety, aggression, substance use). Friends' support was inconsistently associated with the adjustment measures, and the number of relatives frequently seen resulted in negligible effects. In contrast, demographic variables, especially ethnicity, played a much greater role in the association with the four school-related measures (grade-point average, absences, suspensions, conduct infractions). For Asian/Pacific-Islander youths, the quality of the social supports, including family relations, may be particularly important in the adolescents' adjustment. When examining school-related outcomes, demographic variables, with particular emphases on ethnicity and culture, must be considered. When developing and implementing prevention and intervention services and programs, consideration of family and ethnic-cultural influences should be taken into account, with further research needed in several related domains: other SES influences, life stressors, migration-generational effects, ethnic identity, self-concept indicators and socio-political aspects.

Socioeconomic Predictors of Intimate Partner Violence Among White, Black, and Hispanic Couples in the United States

This study assesses the relative influence of various SES measures on the probability of intimate partner violence (IPV) among a national sample of White, Black, and Hispanic married and cohabiting couples. Participants were interviewed in conjunction with the 1995 National Alcohol Survey. Sociodemographic, psychosocial, and alcohol consumption data were obtained from both members of the couple. IPV was measured through the Conflict Tactics Scale, Form R. Bivariate tests were employed to investigate the association between SES and IPV. Deviance statistics, based on contrasting transformed likelihood measures obtained through multivariate logistic regression models, were computed to assess the relative influence of SES on the probability of IPV. Results indicate that annual household income had the greatest relative influence on the probability of partner violence. Future research is needed to explore the pathways by which SES contributes to the risk of partner violence.

Cognitive status, language attainment, and prereading skills of 6‐year‐old very preterm children and their peers: the Bavarian Longitudinal Study

The prevalence of intellectual‐, language‐, and prereading‐skill deficits was investigated in a geographically defined whole‐population sample of very preterm children at 6 years of age in southern Germany. The sample consisted of the following: 264 very preterm children (75.6% of German‐speaking survivors); 264 term controls (matched for sex, socioeconomic status [SES], marital status and age of mother); and a representative normative sample for Bavaria (N=311). Compared with term peers, very preterm children scored significantly lower (approximately –1 SD) on the measures of cognitive and language skills and had major cognitive deficits (<−2 SD) 10 to 35 times more often than the controls. Deficits in speech articulation and prereading skills (<10th centile) were three to five times more frequent in very preterm children. More than 18% of very preterm children had cognitive deficits in more than five areas of functioning, compared with no control children. The differences between very preterm children and controls remained highly significant when only very preterm children (N= 229) and controls (N= 261) without major neurosensory impairment were considered. Little evidence for specific cognitive deficits was found once mental processing measured in the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K‐ABC) was controlled for. The effect of preterm birth on cognitive abilities was found to be larger than the influence of SES. In conclusion, there was a high prevalence of long‐term multiple cognitive problems in very preterm children. These persistent cognitive problems appear to be of pre‐ or neonatal (treatment) rather than postnatal social origin.

Cognitive status, language attainment, and prereading skills of 6-year-old very preterm children and their peers: the Bavarian Longitudinal Study.

The prevalence of intellectual-, language-, and prereading-skill deficits was investigated in a geographically defined whole-population sample of very preterm children at 6 years of age in southern Germany. The sample consisted of the following: 264 very preterm children (75.6% of German-speaking survivors); 264 term controls (matched for sex, socioeconomic status [SES], marital status and age of mother); and a representative normative sample for Bavaria (N=311). Compared with term peers, very preterm children scored significantly lower (approximately -1SD) on the measures of cognitive and language skills and had major cognitive deficits (<-2 SD) 10 to 35 times more often than the controls. Deficits in speech articulation and prereading skills (<l0th centile) were three to five times more frequent in very preterm children. More than 18% of very preterm children had cognitive deficits in more than five areas of functioning, compared with no control children. The differences between very preterm children and controls remained highly significant when only very preterm children (N= 229) and controls (N= 261) without major neurosensory impairment were considered. Little evidence for specific cognitive deficits was found once mental processing measured in the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) was controlled for. The effect of preterm birth on cognitive abilities was found to be larger than the influence of SES. In conclusion, there was a high prevalence of long-term multiple cognitive problems in very preterm children. These persistent cognitive problems appear to be of pre- or neonatal (treatment) rather than postnatal social origin.

Academic Achievement and Impression Management as Factors in the Grading of White Junior High Pupils

The process of grading pupil performance in American schools has received considerable attention over the years. Most of the previous studies have focused on the observed associations between grades and certain pupil characteristics such as family background, sex, abilities, attitudes and behaviors. Far less attention has been given to the influence of teachers' assessment of pupil behavior on grades. Incorporating this dimension into our analysis of the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 data, we not only found virtually no difference in school performance by gender, but also that the influence of family SES on grades operates almost entirely through academic achievement and behavior in school. Furthermore, since academic achievement affects grades both directly and indirectly, achievement seems to reflect both the quality of work performed in class as well as the teacher's evaluation of the adolescent's role performance. Consistent with this interpretation, the pupils' self-reported behavior does not affect his or her grades directly, but indirectly through the teacher's evaluation of the adolescent's role performance. This finding suggests a pupil's demeanor and behavior have institutional meaning only as they are filtered through the teacher's perceptions.

Characterization and prevention of child pedestrian accidents: An overview

European countries are currently undergoing a process of political and economical union, involving nearly all domains of activity. Road safety will of course be one of them. When one reads literature from various countries (e.g., by British, Dutch, Swedish, German, French, etc. authors) dealing with child pedestrian accidents, one will very easily notice the similarities of accident etiology in the various countries: the three groups “at risk” (the 5–9 year-olds, the 10–14 and aged persons); male overrisk; SES influence; and how accidents “happen” (dashing-out, parked cars, visual search of the child, etc.) and so on. Starting from these similarities, we will see how the particularity of each country concerning developmental psychology has influenced the approach to the problem.

The Influence of Ethnicity, Socioeconomic Status, and Psychological Barriers on Use of Mammography

This study assessed the relative influence of psychological barriers, SES, and ethnic differences in mammography use for a community sample of 586 White, 227 Black, and 150 Hispanic women. Confirmatory factor analyses with latent variables indicated plausible factor structures for all groups on items related to barriers to mammography. Summed indicators of SES, fear of radiation, embarrassment, pain, anxiety, and cost concerns were correlated significantly with mammography use for the pooled group. Separate analyses by ethnicity indicated a substantial relationship between mammography use and cost concerns by White and Black women, and fear of pain by Black and Hispanic women. Use of mammography was associated more highly with SES among Hispanic women. Pooled logistic regression analyses controlling for SES and ethnicity showed that the psychological barriers, especially concern about cost, remained important independent predictors of mammography use. We explore sociocultural explanations for less mammography use by Hispanic women, especially those less acculturated.

At-Risk Students and Microcomputers: What Do We Know and How Do We Know it?

This article summarizes and critiques research on the effectiveness of computer applications with at-risk students. Though the research claims many positive outcomes (unproved achievement, lower absenteeism, higher self-esteem, better attitude toward school) resulting from computer use with these students, this review concludes that many of the findings are questionable as a result of several issues. These include flaws in study design, measurement problems, failure to control critical factors associated with the learning environment, lack of specificity regarding utilization and implementation, and a general disregard for the influence of gender and SES in examining and assessing results.

Race, Socioeconomic Status, and Psychological Distress: An Examination of Differential Vulnerability

Using data from a 1985 epidemiological survey of 2,115 adults in Florida, this research has two goals: it tests the proposition that race and SES jointly influence mental health, and it examines the contribution of undesirable life events and economic problems to psychological distress across SES groups. Using multiple indicators of SES and mental health, we found that the evidence for a model of joint influence of race and SES on mental health varied with the measures being used. The most general conclusion is that SES interacts with race to increase psychological symptoms of distress. Partitioning the sample into three SES categories (low, middle, high), we examined the contribution of stressors to the greater distress among lower-SES blacks compared to other blacks and lower-SES whites. Lower-SES blacks are more vulnerable than lower-SES whites to the impact of undesirable events, but they are less vulnerable than lower-SES whites to the impact of economic problems. Lower-SES blacks are more vulnerable than middle-SES blacks to the impact of both discrete events and economic problems. Limitations of the study indicate a need for future longitudinal studies with measures of coping resources and support networks to further our understanding of the race, social class and psychological distress relationship.

The Influence of Identification Practices, Race and SES on the Identification of Gifted Students

Identification procedures for gifted programs reinforce social inequalities while missing some of our most promising students. This study reports, a survey of 461 (82.5%) New Jersey school districts. The results show that there are significant relationships between G/T participation rates and 1) race,2) spending per pupil, 3) property value per pupil and 4) the socioeconomic status of school districts. The study also found excessive reliance on standardized tests. The author calls for a broadened, developmental definition of giftedness.

The Sociogenesis of Psychological Disorder: An Attributional Theory

Before social causation explanations of psychological disorder can be considered plausible, the process by which socialfactors may affect the development of disorder must be made explicit in terms of a given theory. This paper formulates an attributional theory intended primarily to explain social status effects, although other applications are possible. The point of departure for this model is the socializing influence of SES on causal attribution tendencies (i.e., fatalism) and the resulting variation in vulnerability to psychological disorder. Data from two panel studies suggest that causal attribution styles could in fact play a central role in the mediation of social causation of disorder. Comparisons of two contrasting versions of the attributional model show that a simple, linear interpretation of the intervening effects offatalism may be the most adequate. The paper concludes with suggestions for elaborations of the basic theory.

School SES Influences--Composition or Context?

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Socioeconomic Status and Preventive Health Behaviour

Hypotheses explaining the link between SES and preventive health care were tested; and a preliminary predictive modelfor preventive health behaviour was developed. Variables relating to childhood socialization, social participation, work self-direction, work constraints, powerlessness-planfulness, and health knowledge were included as were several demographic variables. Separately, none of the explanatory variables greatly accountedfor the influence of SES. Combined, however, they accountedfor about half of the variance of SES. Together, education, age, income, and social participation (in that order) were found to provide the most parsimonious set for predicting general preventive health behaviour.