Does class matter? SES and psychosocial health among Hungarian adolescents.
Previous research finds a significant relationship between socioeconomic inequalities and health status: individuals with lower income, education, and occupational prestige have and report more health problems. Interestingly, this relationship is not consistent across the life cycle: health differences among adolescents across socioeconomic groups are not as clearly defined. Using data (n = 1,039) on adolescents from southern Hungary, we examine the role of socioeconomic differences in predicting psychosocial health. We argue that this investigation is of particular importance in a post-communist system where the general perception of SES is undergoing significant transformation. Findings show that classical' SES (socioeconomic status) indicators (manual/nonmanual occupational status) were not significant predictors of psychosocial health in this sample of Hungarian adolescents. While parents' employment status as a 'objective' SES indicator had limited effect, SES self-assessment, as a subjective SES variable, proved to be a strong predictor of adolescents' psychosocial health. We discuss the implications of these findings for the broader SES-health literature with specific attention paid to the impact these relationships may have for adolescent and young adult development in a post-communist country like Hungary.
Piko
B
B
Szeged University, Albert-Szent-Gyorgyi Medical and Pharmaceutical Center Department of Psychiatry, Hungary.
Fitzpatrick
K M
KM
D000293:Adolescent; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D006814:Hungary; D008297:Male; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012649:Self Concept; D012923:Social Class