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Socioeconomic inequality and psychopathology: Are socioeconomic status and social class interchangeable?

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  • Wohlfarth, Tamar

Abstract

Two different ways of conceptualizing and measuring socioeconomic inequality (SEI) are described and contrasted: the commonly used socioeconomic status (SES) measures and a neo-Marxist measure of social class. It is argued that SES and social class stem from two different theoretical orientations towards socioeconomic inequality and that they focus on different aspects of inequality. These differences have implications for the role of SEI in relation to psychopathology. Using data from a large scale epidemiological survey that was conducted in Israel, it is shown that SES and social class measures are empirically distinct and that they explain different parts of the variance of psychopathology. It is concluded that since social class is theoretically as well as empirically distinct from SES, it has potential for contributing to our understanding of psychopathological phenomenon.

Suggested Citation

  • Wohlfarth, Tamar, 1997. "Socioeconomic inequality and psychopathology: Are socioeconomic status and social class interchangeable?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 399-410, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:45:y:1997:i:3:p:399-410
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    Cited by:

    1. Joseph Wolfe, 2015. "The Effects of Socioeconomic Status on Child and Adolescent Physical Health: An Organization and Systematic Comparison of Measures," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 123(1), pages 39-58, August.
    2. Muntaner, Carles & Borrell, Carme & Vanroelen, Christophe & Chung, Haejoo & Benach, Joan & Kim, Il Ho & Ng, Edwin, 2010. "Employment relations, social class and health: A review and analysis of conceptual and measurement alternatives," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(12), pages 2130-2140, December.
    3. Shoham, David A. & Vupputuri, Suma & Kaufman, Jay S. & Kshirsagar, Abhijit V. & Diez Roux, Ana V. & Coresh, Josef & Heiss, Gerardo, 2008. "Kidney disease and the cumulative burden of life course socioeconomic conditions: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(8), pages 1311-1320, October.

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