Social Mobility and Mental Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

• In Event: Socioeconomic Status Across the Life Course as a Predictor of Health and Parenting Outcomes

Abstract

A wealth of research suggests that, cross-sectionally, high socioeconomic status (SES) confers mental health benefits in both childhood and adulthood (Allen et al., 2014; Lorant et al., 2003; Reiss, 2013). Longitudinal studies that identify change and stability over time and across generations in social position (i.e., social mobility) may be even more predictive of health outcomes than studies of SES at a single point in time (e.g., Miller et al., 2020). We predicted that changes in SES (upwards or downwards) would be associated with corresponding changes in psychopathology compared to groups whose SES remain stable.

The present paper presents a series of meta-analyses to determine whether social mobility predicts better or worse mental health, relative to stable SES. We conducted meta-analyses separately for individuals who were upwardly mobile and downwardly mobile, and we also separated analyses by reference groups (stable high SES and stable low SES), resulting in four primary meta-analyses. A systematic review of PsycINFO, PubMed, and Web of Science identified a total of 15 studies to be included in the meta-analyses.

Random-effects meta-analyses showed that individuals who were upwardly mobile experienced more mental health problems than those who had stable high SES (d = 0.10, p = .003, 95% CI = 0.04, 0.15) and fewer mental health problems than those who remained in stable low SES (d = -0.20, p < .001, 95% CI = -0.29, -0.11). Individuals who were downwardly mobile also experienced more mental health problems than those who remained in stable high SES (d = 0.23, p < .001, 95% CI = 0.15, 0.31) and fewer mental health problems than those who had stable low SES (d = -0.09, p = .002, 95% CI = -0.14, -0.04). Subgroup analyses revealed that the magnitude of effects did not differ by continent of study, domain of psychopathology, type of generational mobility (intergenerational vs. intragenerational), or type of SES index. Meta-regressions with continuous moderators (age, gender, race, study quality) revealed that only study quality significantly moderated the downward mobility vs. stable high SES comparison (F(1, 10) = 6.39, p = .030); no other moderator effects were significant.

Taken together, these results indicate that both upwardly and downwardly mobile individuals experience more psychopathology than those who are persistently advantaged, and they both experience less psychopathology than those who are persistently disadvantaged. Our findings underscore the importance of considering early life SES and prior generation SES when determining effects of current SES on mental health, as there may be lingering effects of early disadvantage on socioemotional functioning. Future research may examine mental health both prior to and after social mobility periods in order to better determine the direction of effects between SES and mental health as well as how life course mental health trajectories interact with mobility trajectories.

Authors

• Samiha Islam, University of Pennsylvania
  Presenting Author

• Sara R Jaffee, University of Pennsylvania