Two generations later
New evidence on health equalisation in youth
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4592083 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Andreas Klocke (0000-0001-5842-4875, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences), Sven Stadtmüller (0000-0002-2369-002X, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 342 |
| Pages | 116522 |
| Publication date | 2024-02-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social Science & Medicine (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0277-9536 • E-ISSN: 1873-5347 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116522 |
| PMID | 38183934 |
| OpenAlex | W4390165460 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 37 |
In the 1990s, Patrick West argued that, in contrast to childhood and adulthood, youth was characterised by relative social equality in health. This equalisation hypothesis has since been empirically tested several times, but with inconclusive results. The objective of the present study was to provide an up-to-date contribution to the question of health equalisation in youth by drawing on data from the German longitudinal study Health Behaviour and Injuries at School Age (GUS). The target population of GUS comprised students who were in 5th grade at German public secondary schools in the school year 2014/15. Over 10,000 students from randomly selected schools participated in the initial survey wave and were followed up in annual surveys until 10th grade. As GUS included a variety of health-related variables as well as indicators for family affluence, we could examine how social inequalities affected the health and health behaviour of young people with increasing age. Our study goes beyond previous research in two ways. First, from a youth and health sociology perspective, we present reasons why we expect an increase in socially determined health inequalities in the present youth generation. Second, we fully exploit the potential of our panel data, and thus arrive at very reliable results. For self-rated general health, as well as for numerous mental health and health behaviour items, our data show that health inequalities emerged or increased during the observation period (ages 10-16 years). Despite some indications of equalisation, especially for the consumption of unhealthy food and beverages, most of our results contradict West's equalisation hypothesis and suggest that social inequalities play an increasing role in health disparities among youth in the process of growing up
Adolescent health · Consumption (sociology · Geography · German · Health indicator · Inequality · Longitudinal study · Mental health · Population · Psychiatry · Public health · Social inequality · Social science · Sociology · Demography · Health disparities and outcomes · Health, psychology, and well-being · Medicine · Psychology · School Health and Nursing Education · Gerontology
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| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |