Self-rated health among U.S. adolescents.
OBJECTIVE
This article investigates the meaning of subjective health assessments for younger respondents by examining the temporal stability of self-rated health (SRH) among adolescents. Two competing understandings of SRH are tested: SRH as a spontaneous health assessment or as an enduring self-concept.


METHODS
Using data from two waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (n = 13,511), an intra-class correlation coefficient and a weighted Kappa estimate are calculated to assess the test-retest reliability for SRH. Self-rated health (T2) is then modeled as a function of SRH (T1), physical health (T1), and mental health (T1), and changes in physical and mental health (T2-T1).


RESULTS
SRH is found to be moderately stable over repeated observations (K = .40; rho = .55) among adolescents. Findings from multivariate analyses suggest that SRH (T2) is largely determined by SRH (T1) and less so by changes in physical or psychological health status (T2-T1).


CONCLUSIONS
SRH among adolescents is in part a spontaneous health assessment but it is best understood as an enduring self-concept.
Department of Sociology, Population Program, Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0327, USA. boardman@colorado.edu
Jason D
JD
Boardman
D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D012649:Self Concept; D014481:United States