The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #54129

Elizabeth Goodman, MD¹, Nancy E. Adler, PhD², Bruce S. McEwen, PhD³, Tara N. Schafer-Kalkhoff, MA⁴, and Lawrence M. Dolan, MD⁴. (1) Heller Graduate School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, MS 035, 415 South Street, Waltham, MA 02454, 781-736-3902, goodman@brandeis.edu, (2) Department of Psychiatry, University of California, 3333 California Street, Suite 456, San Francisco, CA 94118, (3) Harold and Margaret Milliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, Rockefeller University, Box 165, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10021, (4) Division of Endocrinology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital, 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45229

Background: Animal and human research suggests that lower social status creates chronic stress and that the body’s response to chronic stress can create pathology, including cardiovascular disease and cancer. Risks for these chronic diseases are prevalent among teens, but the link between lower social status and stress has not been made among youth. Objective: To describe the association between perceived socioeconomic status (SES), objective SES, and stress among youth and determine if this association varies by race. Methods: 1037 Non-Hispanic black and white 7-12th graders attending public school in a diverse, suburban Midwest school district completed a validated measure of perceived SES and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). A parent provided objective SES information. Hierarchical linear regression determined the influence of demographics (age, gender, race, number people at home), objective SES (parent education, household income), and perceived SES to PSS scores. Results: In the total population, being older (p=0.007), female (P<0.001), black (P=0.013), having lower parental education (P=0.001), and lower perceived SES (p=0.012) predicted stress. Demographic and objective SES indicators accounted for more variance than perceived SES (5.4%, 3.0%, and 0.6% respectively). In race stratified analyses, education remained significant but perceived SES did not. Income was significant among whites (p=0.014). Objective SES accounted for more variance among whites (5.2%) than blacks (1.9%). Conclusions: Lower SES is stressful and is more strongly associated with stress among white students. Why SES is less salient among black youth remains unclear, but might reflect other stressors like discrimination, which are more prevalent among blacks.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify methods for measuring objective and subjective domains of social stratification in an adolescent population.
• Understand that the various dimensions of social status impact differently on stress levels among teens.
• Recognize that the association between social status and stress varies by race/ethnicity.

Keywords: Adolescents, Stress

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.