Socioeconomic status and the health of youth

A multilevel, multidomain approach to conceptualizing pathways

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4424902
AutoresHannah M C Schreier (0000-0002-3566-6019), Edith Chen (0000-0001-6116-2239)
Ano2013
Volume139
Fascículo3
Páginas606-654
Data de publicação2013-01-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoPsychological Bulletin (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0033-2909 • E-ISSN: 1939-1455
EditoraAmerican Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1037/a0029416
PMID22845752
PMCIDPMC3500451
OpenAlexW1964784807
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas49
Referências citadas16

Previous research has clearly established associations between low socioeconomic status (SES) and poor youth physical health outcomes. This article provides an overview of the main pathways through which low SES environments come to influence youth health. We focus on 2 prevalent chronic health problems in youth today, asthma and obesity. We review and propose a model that encompasses (a) multiple levels of influence, including the neighborhood, family and person level; (b) both social and physical domains in the environment; and finally (c) dynamic relationships between these factors. A synthesis of existing research and our proposed model draw attention to the notion of adverse physical and social exposures in youth's neighborhood environments altering family characteristics and youth psychosocial and behavioral profiles, thereby increasing youth's risk for health problems. We also note the importance of acknowledging reciprocal influences across levels and domains (e.g., between family and child) that create self-perpetuating patterns of influence that further accentuate the impact of these factors on youth health. Finally, we document that factors across levels can interact (e.g., environmental pollution levels with child stress) to create unique, synergistic effects on youth health. Our model stresses the importance of evaluating influences on youth's physical health not in isolation but in the context of the broader social and physical environments in which youth live. Understanding the complex relationships between the factors that link low SES to youth's long-term health trajectories is necessary for the creation and implementation of successful interventions and policies to ultimately reduce health disparities

Context (archaeology · Developmental psychology · Environmental health · Geography · Health equity · Population · Psychiatry · Psychological intervention · Psychosocial · Public health · Social determinants of health · Social environment · Socioeconomic status · Sociology · Health disparities and outcomes · Health, psychology, and well-being · Medicine · Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet · Psychology · Social Psychology