Choice of measure matters: A study of the relationship between socioeconomic status and psychosocial resources in a middle-aged normal population.
Psychosocial resources may serve as an important link to explain socioeconomic differences in health. Earlier studies have demonstrated that education, income and occupational status cannot be used interchangeably as indicators of a hypothetical latent social dimension. In the same manner, it is imp...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2017-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5568385?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1811232985200984064 |
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| author | Karin Festin Kristin Thomas Joakim Ekberg Margareta Kristenson |
| author_facet | Karin Festin Kristin Thomas Joakim Ekberg Margareta Kristenson |
| author_sort | Karin Festin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Psychosocial resources may serve as an important link to explain socioeconomic differences in health. Earlier studies have demonstrated that education, income and occupational status cannot be used interchangeably as indicators of a hypothetical latent social dimension. In the same manner, it is important to disentangle the effect of measuring different constructs of psychosocial resources. The aim of this study was therefore to analyse if associations between socioeconomic status (SES) and psychosocial resources differ depending on the measures used. A cross-sectional population-based study of a random sample (n = 1007) of middle-aged individuals (45-69 years old, 50% women) in Sweden was performed using questionnaire and register data. SES was measured as education, occupation, household income and self-rated economy. Psychosocial resources were measured as social integration, social support, mastery, self-esteem, sense of coherence (SOC) and trust. Logistic regression models were applied to analyse the relationships controlling for the effects of possible confounders. The measures of SES were low or moderately correlated to each other as were the measures of psychosocial resources. After controlling for age, sex, country of birth and employment status, household income and self-rated economy were associated with all six psychosocial resources; occupation was associated with three (social integration, self-esteem and trust) and education with two (social integration and self-esteem). Social integration and self-esteem showed a significant and graded relationship with all SES measures; trust was associated with all SES measures except education, whereas SOC and mastery were only associated with household income and self-rated economy. After controlling for other SES measures, no associations with psychosocial resources remained for education or occupation. In conclusion, associations between SES and psychosocial resources did differ depending on the measures used. The findings illustrate the importance of the choice of measure when investigating SES as well as psychosocial resources. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T11:12:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ac66f137ff2b43debc2358936246e688 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T11:12:32Z |
| publishDate | 2017-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-ac66f137ff2b43debc2358936246e6882022-12-22T03:35:34ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032017-01-01128e017892910.1371/journal.pone.0178929Choice of measure matters: A study of the relationship between socioeconomic status and psychosocial resources in a middle-aged normal population.Karin FestinKristin ThomasJoakim EkbergMargareta KristensonPsychosocial resources may serve as an important link to explain socioeconomic differences in health. Earlier studies have demonstrated that education, income and occupational status cannot be used interchangeably as indicators of a hypothetical latent social dimension. In the same manner, it is important to disentangle the effect of measuring different constructs of psychosocial resources. The aim of this study was therefore to analyse if associations between socioeconomic status (SES) and psychosocial resources differ depending on the measures used. A cross-sectional population-based study of a random sample (n = 1007) of middle-aged individuals (45-69 years old, 50% women) in Sweden was performed using questionnaire and register data. SES was measured as education, occupation, household income and self-rated economy. Psychosocial resources were measured as social integration, social support, mastery, self-esteem, sense of coherence (SOC) and trust. Logistic regression models were applied to analyse the relationships controlling for the effects of possible confounders. The measures of SES were low or moderately correlated to each other as were the measures of psychosocial resources. After controlling for age, sex, country of birth and employment status, household income and self-rated economy were associated with all six psychosocial resources; occupation was associated with three (social integration, self-esteem and trust) and education with two (social integration and self-esteem). Social integration and self-esteem showed a significant and graded relationship with all SES measures; trust was associated with all SES measures except education, whereas SOC and mastery were only associated with household income and self-rated economy. After controlling for other SES measures, no associations with psychosocial resources remained for education or occupation. In conclusion, associations between SES and psychosocial resources did differ depending on the measures used. The findings illustrate the importance of the choice of measure when investigating SES as well as psychosocial resources.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5568385?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Karin Festin Kristin Thomas Joakim Ekberg Margareta Kristenson Choice of measure matters: A study of the relationship between socioeconomic status and psychosocial resources in a middle-aged normal population. PLoS ONE |
| title | Choice of measure matters: A study of the relationship between socioeconomic status and psychosocial resources in a middle-aged normal population. |
| title_full | Choice of measure matters: A study of the relationship between socioeconomic status and psychosocial resources in a middle-aged normal population. |
| title_fullStr | Choice of measure matters: A study of the relationship between socioeconomic status and psychosocial resources in a middle-aged normal population. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Choice of measure matters: A study of the relationship between socioeconomic status and psychosocial resources in a middle-aged normal population. |
| title_short | Choice of measure matters: A study of the relationship between socioeconomic status and psychosocial resources in a middle-aged normal population. |
| title_sort | choice of measure matters a study of the relationship between socioeconomic status and psychosocial resources in a middle aged normal population |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5568385?pdf=render |
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