Poster #24 - Testing the Incremental Validity of Subjective Socioeconomic Status in Predicting Mental Health Outcomes Among Minority Adolescents Living in Poverty

• In Event: Poster Session 02

Abstract

Growing up with low socioeconomic status (SES) is linked to negative youth mental health outcomes (Bradley & Corwyn, 2002). Although the child developmental literature has largely focused on objective SES (e.g., household income, parental education), studies have explored how subjective social status (SSS), or perceived SES, confers risk for youth psychopathology (Sing-Manoux et al., 2003). Such studies have consistently found that youth with lower SSS are at increased risk for mental health problems compared to their higher SSS peers, regardless of the objective socioeconomic environment (McLaughlin et al., 2012; Quon & McGrath, 2014; Rivenbark et al., 2019). However, it remains relatively unknown how youth SSS relates to mental health in minority groups and in objectively low SES communities. The current study aimed to address this gap by exploring the relationship between youth SSS and externalizing/internalizing problems among a community-based sample of Black adolescents from the Mobile Youth Survey, a longitudinal cohort study of minority youth living in extremely impoverished neighborhoods around Mobile, AL.

Youth SSS (N=270, mean age 16.3 years, 54% female) was measured via two self-reported measures adapted from the MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Status; each question assessed the participant’s perceived social standing of their family relative to their neighborhood (neighborhood SSS) and the United States (societal SSS). Adolescent externalizing/internalizing symptoms were captured via the Youth Self-Report and the Child Behavioral Checklist. Caregivers also reported highest education level and past year’s household income. Hierarchical multivariate regressions tested the incremental validity of SSS in predicting youth- and caregiver-reported internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Covariates included youth age and gender.

Bivariate results showed that caregiver education and household income were significantly, positively correlated (r = .18, p ≤ .001); however, these objective SEP measures were not significantly correlated with SSS. Objective SES variables were not significant predictors in any model. Our main results showed that societal SSS (β = .04, p < .05) predicted youth-reported externalizing symptoms above and beyond objective SES, such that higher SSS scores were related to increased externalizing problems. SSS did not significantly predict additional variance in any other model.

Findings suggest that the SSS-mental health relationship may be different, or more nuanced, for Black youth living in disadvantaged communities. In contrast to prior findings on youth SSS and mental health, lower societal SSS was modestly protective against externalizing problems in our sample. One potential explanation for this finding is that Black youth who perceive their family’s socioeconomic standing as relatively low compared to society may also have a heightened awareness of structural racism and racial inequality. They therefore may be less likely to engage in defiant or rule-breaking behaviors due to certain societal factors, such as a racially inequitable criminal justice system. However, given that three of four mental health outcomes analyzed were not significantly associated with either objective or subjective SES, our results overall indicate that these socioeconomic-related variables may not directly relate to mental health status among Black adolescents living in impoverished communities. Instead, other cultural, rank-based dynamics may be contributing to mental health.

Authors

• Janine Cerutti, University of Vermont
  Presenting Author

• Keith Burt, University of Vermont

• Anneliese Bolland, University of Alabama

• John Bolland, University of Alabama