Abstract
Background
Subjective social status (SSS) refers to a person’s perception of their social rank relative to others and is cross-sectionally linked to systemic inflammation independently of ...objective socioeconomic status.
Purpose
We test the extent to which SSS relates to multiyear changes in inflammation, or if associations differ by race or sex.
Methods
Healthy adults (N = 331; 30–51 years) completed a baseline visit and 278 participants returned for a second visit 2.85 years later. At both visits, participants underwent a fasting blood draw and completed community (SSSC) and US (SSSUS) versions of the MacArthur Scale. Multiple linear regression analyses examined change in interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP) predicted by each type of SSS, adjusting for time between visits, sex, race, age, body mass index, smoking, baseline inflammation, and objective socioeconomic status. Additional analyses further adjusted for hopelessness and depressive symptoms. Interactions examined moderations by sex and race.
Results
Lower SSSC was longitudinally associated with greater IL-6 independently of all covariates, including education and income (β = −0.06), hopelessness (β = −0.06), and depressive symptoms (β = −0.06). Lower SSSUS was longitudinally associated with greater IL-6 independently of demographic covariates including education and income (β = −0.06), but was slightly attenuated after adjusting for hopelessness (β = −0.06) and depressive symptoms (β = −0.06). There were no associations for CRP or moderation by race or sex.
Conclusions
Lower SSS may be associated with greater circulating markers of inflammation over time as suggested by increases in IL-6.
Lay Summary
Subjective social status (SSS) refers to how people perceive their social rank compared with others and has been linked to meaningful differences in physical health. Increases in inflammation may contribute to associations between lower SSS and poorer physical health. In a sample of healthy adults, we examined whether SSS was associated with prospective, multiyear changes in markers of systemic inflammation and if this differed by sex or race. We found that adults who perceived their social status as lower than peers in their community exhibited an accelerated increase in interleukin-6, a marker of systemic inflammation, over a 3-year period. When participants were asked to compare themselves to people in the broader USA, the pattern was similar but less robust. Results were independent of individual differences in sociodemographic characteristics including family-adjusted income and education. Findings did not differ by sex or race and were not explained by differences in adiposity and symptoms of depression and hopelessness. Effects for C-reactive protein, a second marker of inflammation, were generally nonsignificant. Although preliminary, findings suggest an immune pathway by which perceived social status may relate to chronic diseases of aging.
Adults who perceive their social status as lower than peers in their community exhibit an accelerated increase in systemic inflammation over a 3-year period, suggesting an immune pathway by which perceived social status may relate to chronic diseases of aging
The significant population of Chinese rural-to-urban migrant children has sparked considerable domestic and international concern regarding their disadvantaged family circumstances and their ...escalating prevalence of internalizing and externalizing problems. Derived from the
resource substitution hypothesis
, non-cognitive factors such as personality traits may act as “substitution” resources for educational outcomes of children from less privileged families. Yet, the compensatory role of personality traits as substitution resources in children’s mental health has received limited attention, including that of migrant children. This study examined the interplay of trait-like grit and family SES on emotional and conduct problems among Chinese migrant and urban children. The current sample consisted of 770 migrant children (
M
age
= 10.45 and SD
age
= 0.68 years; 38.4% girls) and their 222 urban counterparts (
M
age
= 10.34 and SD
age
= 0.46 years; 45.5% girls). Moderated polynomial regressions with response surface analysis on a two-wave data with an interval of over six months showed that grit served as a “substitution” resource for the less socioeconomically advantaged children. The compensatory effect of perseverance of effort on urban children’s emotional problems and that of consistency of interest on migrant children’s conduct problems were visualized. Moreover, the two compensatory effects were found to be robust and unique, even after children’s effortful control, a grit-related construct, was taken into account. These findings not only support the
resource substitution hypothesis
, but also underscore the protective role that grit plays in children under less privileged environments.
Ensuring fair access to urban green spaces is a constant challenge for planning in densifying cities. Moreover, the quality of green spaces that determines their usability is often insufficiently ...considered in accessibility research. We examined residents’ accessibility to different types of green spaces also by neighborhood-level socioeconomic status (SES) in the seven largest urban regions in Finland. We identified eight different green space types, and high and low SES neighborhoods using income, education, and unemployment rate. We calculated network-based accessibility to the different types of green spaces and compared areas with a high and low SES using ANOVA. 90% of the urban residents lived within 300 meters of any green space. However, inclusion of the quality factors decreased accessibility of the green spaces from 34% to 75%. Residents living in high and low SES areas had different quality features in their nearest green spaces. Recreation facilities and routes were closer to low SES areas, whereas areas of high SES were associated with better accessibility to large green areas, and forests. This pattern recurred in most individual cities with varying distance differences. Our results emphasize the importance of considering the quality of green spaces in urban planning.
•Fair access to green spaces with varying qualities was analyzed in Finland.•Most of the Finnish urban population lives within 300 m from any green space.•Large green areas and forests were more accessible to high SES areas.•Green areas with facilities and routes were more accessible to low SES areas.•Quality of green spaces should be better considered in accessibility analyses.
This three-wave longitudinal study investigated the stability and changes in HEXACO personality traits and tested whether socioeconomic factors relate to the initial levels and changes of personality ...among Chinese adolescents (N = 1,646, Wave 1 Mage = 15.21 years). The findings revealed high rank-order stability of HEXACO personality traits. Consistent with the disruption hypothesis, latent growth modeling revealed significant decreases in Honesty-Humility and Agreeableness and a significant increase in Emotionality among boys. Findings also provided evidence contradicting the disruption hypothesis as both boys and girls exhibited an increase in Extraversion, indicating the complexity of developmental trends in personality during adolescence. Conditional latent growth modeling demonstrated that higher childhood and current family socioeconomic status were associated with higher initial levels of Extraversion, Conscientiousness, and Openness to Experience, and a lower initial level of Emotionality. Perceived economic inequality was related to a lower initial level of Honesty-Humility and a higher initial level of Openness to Experience. However, socioeconomic factors were not associated with the slopes of personality change. These findings highlight the need for future research to refine the disruption hypothesis and suggest that socioeconomic factors relate to the levels but not changes in personality traits during middle to late adolescence.
We investigate how parental income during an individual's upbringing relates to his or her effectiveness as a leader after entering an organization. Drawing on research on the psychological effects ...of income, social learning theory, and the integrative trait-behavioral model of leadership effectiveness, we propose a negative, serially mediated association between higher parental income and lower future leader effectiveness via high levels of narcissism and, in turn, reduced engagement in behaviors that are viewed as central to the leadership role. We test our model using multisource data collected from active soldiers in the United States Army. Results reveal that parental income exerts indirect effects on leadership effectiveness criteria because (a) parental income is positively related to narcissism as an adult, (b) narcissism relates negatively to engaging in task-, relational-, and change-oriented leadership behaviors, and (c) reduced engagement in these behaviors relates to lower leader effectiveness. Our investigation advances theory by identifying pathways through which parental income relates to the effectiveness of leaders in organizations, and by illuminating the origins of a trait—narcissism—that predicts the behavior and effectiveness of leaders.
Intergenerational mobility is higher among college graduates than among people with lower levels of education. In light of this finding, researchers have characterized a college degree as a great ...equalizer leveling the playing field, and proposed that expanding higher education would promote mobility. This line of reasoning rests on the implicit assumption that the relatively high mobility observed among college graduates reflects a causal effect of college completion on intergenerational mobility, an assumption that has rarely been rigorously evaluated. This article bridges this gap. Using a novel reweighting technique, I estimate the degree of intergenerational income mobility among college graduates purged of selection processes that may drive up observed mobility in this subpopulation. Analyzing data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, I find that once selection processes are adjusted for, intergenerational income mobility among college graduates is very close to that among non-graduates. This finding suggests that expanding the pool of college graduates per se is unlikely to boost intergenerational income mobility in the United States. To promote mobility, public investments in higher education (e.g., federal and state student aid programs) should be targeted at low-income youth.
Quantitative health disparities research has increasingly employed intersectionality as a theoretical tool to investigate how social characteristics intersect to generate health inequality. Yet, ...intersectionality was not designed to quantify, predict, or identify health disparities, and, as a result, multiple criticisms against its misapplication in health disparities research have been made. As such, there is an emerging need to evaluate the growing body of quantitative research that aims to investigate health disparities through an intersectional lens.
We conducted a systematic review from earliest records to January 2020 to (i) describe the scope of limitations when applying intersectionality to quantitative health disparities research, and (ii) identify recommendations to improve the future integration of intersectionality with this scholarship. We identified relevant publications with electronic searches in PubMed and CA Web of Science. Studies eligible for inclusion were English-language publications that used quantitative methodologies to investigate health disparities among adults in the U.S. while explicitly claiming to adopt an intersectional perspective. Out of 1279 articles reviewed, 65 were eligible for inclusion.
Our review found that, while the value of intersectionality to the study of health disparities is evident, the existing research struggles with meeting intersectionality's fundamental assumptions. In particular, four limitations were found to be widespread: narrowing the measurements of intersectionality, intersectional groups, and health outcomes; placing primacy on the study of certain intersectional groups to the neglect of others; overlooking underlying explanatory mechanisms that contribute to the health disparities experienced by intersectional groups; and, lacking in the use of life-course perspectives to show how health disparities vary across different life stages.
If the goal of health equality is to be achieved among diverse intersectional groups, future research must be assisted by the collection and examination of data that overcomes these limitations.
•Intersectionality is increasingly used to study how social statuses shape health.•Current systematic review is first on intersectional quantitative health disparities research.•Widespread limitations reduce intersectionality's development in this literature.•Results highlight a need for data to match intersectionality's core tenets.
Socially disadvantaged groups generally are more likely to reside in areas with less desirable conditions. We examined longitudinal relationships between neighborhood resident characteristics and ...amenities from 1990 to 2010 in an urban area of Utah, U.S. Four temporal patterns of social inequities are described using mixed-effects models: historical inequities; differential selection into amenity-rich tracts; differential investment in amenities; and simultaneous twenty-year change. Results indicate historical differences by neighborhood socioeconomic status, with lower status tracts having fewer green/natural amenities and higher air pollution in 1990 but also greater walkability and more food stores. Differences in amenities by neighborhood socioeconomic status widened over time as aggregate socioeconomic status disproportionately increased in tracts with more green/natural amenities, less air pollution, and lower walkability in 1990, consistent with differential selection. Tract percentage non-Hispanic White did not predict historical differences, but tracts that were less walkable and had fewer healthy food stores in 1990 experienced larger subsequent increases in racial/ethnic diversity. Tracts with higher relative to lower percentage non-Hispanic White in 1990 had larger decreases in air pollution but declining green/natural amenities. This study shows how social inequities in neighborhood amenities change over time, providing evidence of historical socioeconomic differences increasing from differential resident selection.
•Urban and nature-based amenities for four urban counties were assessed over 20 years.•Socioeconomically advantaged areas had more nature-based but fewer urban amenities.•Socioeconomic differences widened as higher status residents moved into amenity-rich areas.•Racial composition was not associated with neighborhood amenities in 1990.•Racial diversity increased in areas that initially had fewer urban amenities.
The objective of this study was to assess the independent effect of income on health-related quality of life (HRQL) among older adults in Canada and the United States. Data were obtained from the ...2002–2003 Joint Canada/United States Survey of Health. The sample consisted of 755 Canadians and 1151 Americans aged 65 years or older. HRQL was measured with the multidimensional Health Utilities Index Mark 3 (HUI3). The results indicated that in the elderly population, HRQL was significantly associated with household income in the United States but not in Canada, controlling for sociodemographic and health indicators. Various explanations for the positive linear relationship between HRQL and income in the elderly population are discussed, including the roles of access to health care and socioeconomic inequalities in the United States and Canada.
In the spring of 2020, US schools closed to in-person teaching and sports were cancelled to control the transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). It is critical to understand the mental ...and physical health of adolescent athletes during this time.
To describe the health of athletes during COVID-19-related school closures and sport cancellations.
Cross-sectional study.
A national sample recruited via social media.
A total of 13 002 US adolescent athletes (age = 16.3 ± 1.2 years, females = 52.9%, males = 47.0%) completed an anonymous online survey.
Demographic information collected was sex, grade, sport(s) played, and zip code. Assessments used were the General Anxiety Disorder 7-Item for anxiety, Patient Health Questionnaire 9-Item for depression, the Pediatric Functional Activity Brief Scale for physical activity, and the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0 for quality of life. Mental health, physical activity, and health-related quality-of-life variables were compared among sex, grade, sport(s) played, and poverty level using means and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) from the survey-weighted analysis of variance.
Females reported a higher prevalence of moderate to severe anxiety symptoms (females = 43.7% versus males = 28.2%). The Pediatric Functional Activity Brief Scale score was highest (best) for grade 9 (mean = 14.5, 95% CI = 14.0, 15.0) and lowest for grade 11 (mean = 10.9, 95% CI = 10.5, 11.3). The prevalence of depression symptoms was highest in team sport (74.1%) and lowest in individual sport (64.9%) participants. The total Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory score was lowest (worst) for athletes from counties with the highest poverty levels (high: mean = 74.5, 95% CI = 73.7, 75.3; middle: mean = 78.9, 95% CI = 78.0, 79.8; and low: mean = 78.3, 95% CI = 77.4, 79.1).
The health of US adolescents during the COVID-19-related school closures and sport cancellations varied to differing degrees depending on sex, grade level, type of sport participation, and level of poverty. Health policy experts should consider these findings in the future when creating and implementing policies to improve the health of adolescents in the United States.
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