title: Changes in psychological resources moderate the effect of socioeconomic status on distress symptoms: a 10-year follow-up among young adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study examined the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) on changes in psychological resources and whether these changes in turn moderate the effect of SES on distress symptoms in a prospective 10-year follow-up among young adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects (N = 1239) were participants in two phases (1989, 22 years; 1999, 32 years) of a Finnish cohort study. The measurements were SES (basic education at 22 years, occupation at 32 years), distress symptoms (index of 17 somatic and mental complaints), and psychological resources (self-esteem, meaningfulness, locus of control).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results showed that lower SES is associated with poorer psychological resources both concurrently and prospectively. Lower SES at age 22 also predicted slower resource development, but only among females. In prospective analyses among both genders, changes in psychological resources moderated the effect of SES on distress symptoms: for those with losses in psychological resources, lower SES was associated with greater increases in distress between 22 and 32 years of age, whereas for those with stable or increasing resources, no effects of SES on distress were found.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results indicate that higher SES is associated with more favorable changes in psychological resources. In a longitudinal setting, SES differences in health seem to increase only when psychological resources decrease during the same period. The results emphasize the importance of dynamic conceptualizations of psychological resources in SES-health research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland. olli.kiviruusu@thl.fi
authors.forename: Olli
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kiviruusu
authors.forename: Taina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Huurre
authors.forename: Ari
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Haukkala
authors.forename: Hillevi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aro
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D009790:Occupations; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012649:Self Concept; D012923:Social Class; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult