Subjective social status and its relationship to health and health behavior: Comparing two different scales in university students
Hoebel J, Sonntag D, Hilger J, Diehl K (2021)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2021
Journal
Book Volume: 31
Article Number: 20170079
Journal Issue: 4
Abstract
Background: Little is known about the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and health in late adolescence. As it is difficult to measure SES in this age group directly, we used two subjective social status (SSS) scales with different reference groups for social comparison in the relatively homogeneous group of university students and analyzed the relationship with health and health behaviors. Methods: We used two 10-rung ladders, a societal and a university one, to measure SSS in students (n = 689, 16–29 years). We compared the scales’ ratings and analyzed relationships with sociodemographic factors, health outcomes and behaviors. Results: On average, students rated their individual SSS higher on the university scale (6.87) than on the societal one (6.41). Regarding health outcomes and behaviors, we found similar results for both scales, while sociodemographic variables were more likely to be associated with the societal scale. Conclusion: SSS seems to be a useful measure besides the objective SES. Our data suggest that both SSS scales are helpful in the framework of health inequality but differ slightly in what they measure. More detailed research may help to determine which scale is appropriate for individual study context.
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Germany (DE)How to cite
APA:
Hoebel, J., Sonntag, D., Hilger, J., & Diehl, K. (2021). Subjective social status and its relationship to health and health behavior: Comparing two different scales in university students. International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health, 31(4). https://doi.org/10.1515/ijamh-2017-0079
MLA:
Hoebel, Jens, et al. "Subjective social status and its relationship to health and health behavior: Comparing two different scales in university students." International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health 31.4 (2021).
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