title: Subjective health of adolescents from families in receipt of social assistance.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the subjective health of adolescents from families in receipt and not in receipt of social assistance.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nationwide cross-sectional study of 1812 pupils aged 13-18 years in Poland in 2010-2011.
  
  
  METHODS
  The analysis focused on two dimensions of the Child Health and Illness Profile - Adolescent Edition questionnaire: discomfort and satisfaction with health. Age, sex and seven socio-economic factors were considered as determinants.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, 10.8% of the respondents reported that their families were in receipt of social welfare benefits. Among the families of low socio-economic status and living in poor regions, the percentage in receipt of social welfare benefits increased to 22.1%; however, this figure was lower (4.4%) if both parents had a higher level of education. After adjustment for six sociodemographic variables, the standardized regression coefficient of the social welfare benefits variable amounted to 0.072 (P = 0.004) in the discomfort model and -0.044 (P = 0.079) in the satisfaction model. A significant three-level interaction was found (P = 0.007) between residential location, neighbourhood affluence and being in receipt of social welfare benefits as predicators of discomfort score (general linear model).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Being in receipt of social welfare benefits has a stronger impact on experiencing discomfort than diminishing satisfaction with one's health. It also has a stronger effect on physical problems than on emotional problems. The item 'on social assistance' is recommended as it helps to identify families particularly exposed to the health consequences of poverty.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Health, Institute of Mother and Child, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mazur
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Health, Institute of Mother and Child, Warsaw, Poland. Electronic address: anna.dzielska@imid.med.pl.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dzielska
authors.affiliation: Institute of Applied Psychology, The Maria Grzegorzewska Academy of Special Education, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zawadzka
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Health, Institute of Mother and Child, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tabak
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Health, Institute of Mother and Child, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Małkowska-Szkutnik
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D059026:Diagnostic Self Evaluation; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011044:Poland; D012946:Social Welfare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: Adolescents; Area deprivation; Health inequalities; Poland; Social assistance; Subjective health