scholarly journals Socioeconomic Status, Subjective Social Status, and Perceived Stress: Associations with Stress Physiology and Executive Functioning

2015 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 145-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Ursache ◽  
Kimberly G. Noble ◽  
Clancy Blair
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-52
Author(s):  
Stacy A. Ogbeide ◽  
Christopher A. Neumann

AimThe purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between subjective social status (SSS) and objective socioeconomic status (SES) on sleep status (sleep duration and daytime sleepiness).MethodThe study sample included 73 primary care patients from a free medical clinic in which low-income individuals are primarily treated. Subjective social status was measured using the MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Status which uses a pictorial format (social ladder) in order to assess current social status. Socioeconomic status was measured by assessing highest level of education and current income level.ResultsCommunity SSS did not significantly predict sleep duration or daytime sleepiness. Additional regression analyses were conducted and it was found that an overall model of U.S. SSS and community SSS significantly predicted perceived stress. Community SSS was found to be significantly associated with perceived stress. Regression results also indicated that an overall model of U.S. SSS and community SSS significantly predicted perceived health status.ConclusionIt may be beneficial for clinicians working with low-income primary care populations to include measures of SSS in addition to the traditional measures of SES for multidimensional patient care.


Author(s):  
Jutta Lindert ◽  
Kimberley C. Paul ◽  
E. Lachman Margie ◽  
Beate Ritz ◽  
Teresa Seeman

AbstractLimited research is available on the relationship between social stress and risk of declining cognition. We sought to examine whether social stress has adverse effects on risk of declining episodic memory and executive functioning in aging individuals. We used data from the MIDUS study, a national probability sample of non-institutionalized, English speaking respondents aged 25–74 living in the 48 contiguous states of the United States. The initial wave (1995) included 4963 non-institutionalized adults aged 32–84 (M = 55, SD = 12.4). We used an analytic sample from MIDUS-II (1996/1997) and MIDUS-III (2013) (n = 1821). The dependent variables are episodic memory and executive functioning, which were assessed with the Brief Test for Cognition (BTACT). The independent variables were social stress variables (subjective social status, family and marital stress, work stress and discrimination). To evaluate episodic memory and executive functioning changes over a time period of 10 years, we estimated adjusted linear regression models. Women report significantly lower subjective social status and more discrimination stress than men across all age groups. Controlling for education and income, age, and baseline episodic memory and executive functioning, lower subjective social status had additional adverse effects on declines in episodic memory in men and women. Marital risk had adverse effects on episodic memory in men but not in women. Daily discrimination had adverse effects on executive functioning on all individuals. Public health strategies should focus on reducing social stress in a socio-ecological perspective. Especially, subjective social status and discrimination stress might be a target for prevention efforts.


2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (14) ◽  
pp. 1923-1928 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley M Geiger ◽  
Clemens Kirschbaum ◽  
Jutta M Wolf

Inconsistent associations between health and measures of subjective social status compared to one’s community suggest that how people define community may matter. This study broke down community into status among neighborhood and friends/family to assess the impact of each domain on chronic stress in individuals differing in socioeconomic status (18 employed and 18 unemployed individuals). The findings suggest that for ratings of subjective social status, the social and physical proximity of the reference group matters. Specifically, neighborhood status was affected by unemployment, while friends/family status was associated with perceived stress, emphasizing the importance of the comparison group in assessing subjective status.


2013 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 1353-1359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mª Visitación Sanchón-Macias ◽  
Dolores Prieto-Salceda ◽  
Andreu Bover-Bover ◽  
Denise Gastaldo

OBJECTIVE: to explore the relationship between socioeconomic status and subjective social status and explain how subjective social status predicts health in immigrant women. METHODS: cross-sectional study based on data from 371 Latin American women (16-65 years old) from a total of 7,056 registered immigrants accesse through community parthers between 2009-2010. Socioeconomic status was measured through education, income and occupation; subjective social status was measured using the MacArthur Scale, and perceived health, using a Likert scale. RESULTS: a weak correlation between socioeconomic and subjective social status was found. In the bivariate analysis, a significantly higher prevalence of negative perceived health in women with no education, low income, undocumented employment was observed. In the multivariate analysis, higher odds of prevalence of negative perceptions of health in the lower levels of the MacArthur scale were observed. No significant differences with the rest of the variables were found. CONCLUSIONS: the study suggests that subjective social status was a better predictor of health status than the socioeconomic status measurements. Therefore, the use of this measurement may be relevant to the study of health inequalities, particularly in socially disadvantaged groups such as immigrants.


2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (10) ◽  
pp. 4226-4234
Author(s):  
Yang Chen ◽  
Hongsheng Chen ◽  
Zhigang Li

Objective This study aimed to identify the relationship between city-level economic development and smoking behaviour. Methods Using multilevel mixed-effects logistic methods, we examined the relationship between smoking/passive smoking and respondents’ lifestyles in the city. Results We found that respondents living in cities with higher per capita gross domestic product (GDP) were less likely to smoke than those living in cities with lower per capita GDP (odds ratio [OR] = 0.977, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.958–0.997). Further, respondents with higher levels of life satisfaction and subjective social status were less likely to smoke than those with lower levels of these variables (OR = 0.942, 95% CI: 0.893–0.994; OR = 0.955, 95% CI: 0.928–0.983, respectively). In terms of passive smoking, respondents with higher levels of subjective social status in their cities were less likely to smoke than those with lower levels (OR = 0.972, 95% CI: 0.948–0.996). Smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke were more common among those with lower socioeconomic status. Conclusions Smoking is one of the most serious public health hazards in China. People’s smoking behaviour is significantly related to characteristics of their cities and their socioeconomic status. Improved smoking-prevention measures are urgently required in China.


2016 ◽  
Vol 50 (7) ◽  
pp. 926-946 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginia W. Huynh ◽  
Jessica J. Chiang

Despite adolescence being a period marked by significant social changes, research on social status focuses largely on adults. This study examined whether school and societal subjective social status (SSS) are differentially associated with adolescent health above and beyond objective socioeconomic status (SES), and explored pathways linking SSS to health. Latino ( n = 169) and Asian American ( n = 77) adolescents ( M age = 17.23, SD = 0.74; 59% female) completed self-reports of SSS, sleep, stress, and somatic symptoms. Parents reported income and education. Blood pressure (BP) measurements were obtained. Results indicate that independent of objective SES, lower school SSS was associated with higher diastolic BP whereas lower societal SSS was associated with more somatic symptoms. Sleep disruptions and perceived stress mediated the association between societal SSS and somatic symptoms. Results suggest that SSS may be more important to adolescent health than objective SES. Furthermore, school and societal SSS may differentially affect indicators of health through different pathways.


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