IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i15p7739-d598457.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Health Inequalities in Children and Adolescents: A Scoping Review of the Mediating and Moderating Effects of Family Characteristics

Author

Listed:
  • Miriam Blume

    (Department of Epidemiology and Health Monitoring, Robert Koch-Institute, 13353 Berlin, Germany)

  • Petra Rattay

    (Department of Epidemiology and Health Monitoring, Robert Koch-Institute, 13353 Berlin, Germany)

  • Stephanie Hoffmann

    (Department of Public Health, Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, 01968 Senftenberg, Germany)

  • Jacob Spallek

    (Department of Public Health, Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, 01968 Senftenberg, Germany)

  • Lydia Sander

    (Department of Public Health, Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, 01968 Senftenberg, Germany)

  • Raphael Herr

    (Mannheim Institute of Public Health, Social and Preventive Medicine, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, 68167 Mannheim, Germany)

  • Matthias Richter

    (Institute of Medical Sociology, Medical Faculty, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, 06112 Halle, Germany)

  • Irene Moor

    (Institute of Medical Sociology, Medical Faculty, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, 06112 Halle, Germany)

  • Nico Dragano

    (Institute of Medical Sociology, Centre for Health and Society, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany)

  • Claudia Pischke

    (Institute of Medical Sociology, Centre for Health and Society, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany)

  • Iryna Iashchenko

    (Health Economics, Technical University of Munich, 80992 München, Germany)

  • Claudia Hövener

    (Department of Epidemiology and Health Monitoring, Robert Koch-Institute, 13353 Berlin, Germany)

  • Benjamin Wachtler

    (Department of Epidemiology and Health Monitoring, Robert Koch-Institute, 13353 Berlin, Germany)

Abstract

This scoping review systematically mapped evidence of the mediating and moderating effects of family characteristics on health inequalities in school-aged children and adolescents (6–18 years) in countries with developed economies in Europe and North America. We conducted a systematic scoping review following the PRISMA extension for Scoping Reviews recommendations. We searched the PubMed, PsycINFO and Scopus databases. Two reviewers independently screened titles, abstracts and full texts. Evidence was synthesized narratively. Of the 12,403 records initially identified, 50 articles were included in the synthesis. The included studies were conducted in the United States ( n = 27), Europe ( n = 18), Canada ( n = 3), or in multiple countries combined ( n = 2). We found that mental health was the most frequently assessed health outcome. The included studies reported that different family characteristics mediated or moderated health inequalities. Parental mental health, parenting practices, and parent-child-relationships were most frequently examined, and were found to be important mediating or moderating factors. In addition, family conflict and distress were relevant family characteristics. Future research should integrate additional health outcomes besides mental health, and attempt to integrate the complexity of families. The family characteristics identified in this review represent potential starting points for reducing health inequalities in childhood and adolescence.

Suggested Citation

  • Miriam Blume & Petra Rattay & Stephanie Hoffmann & Jacob Spallek & Lydia Sander & Raphael Herr & Matthias Richter & Irene Moor & Nico Dragano & Claudia Pischke & Iryna Iashchenko & Claudia Hövener & B, 2021. "Health Inequalities in Children and Adolescents: A Scoping Review of the Mediating and Moderating Effects of Family Characteristics," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-33, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:15:p:7739-:d:598457
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/15/7739/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/15/7739/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jo, Young, 2014. "What money can buy: Family income and childhood obesity," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 15(C), pages 1-12.
    2. Soteriades, E.S. & DiFranza, J.R., 2003. "Parent's Socioeconomic Status, Adolescents' Disposable Income, and Adolescents' Smoking Status in Massachusetts," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(7), pages 1155-1160.
    3. Herke, Max & Moor, Irene & Winter, Kristina & Hoffmann, Stephanie & Spallek, Jacob & Hilger-Kolb, Jennifer & Pischke, Claudia & Dragano, Nico & Novelli, Anna & Richter, Matthias, 2020. "Role of contextual and compositional characteristics of schools for health inequalities in childhood and adolescence: protocol for a scoping review," Munich Reprints in Economics 84786, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    4. Beiser, M. & Hou, F. & Hyman, I. & Tousignant, M., 2002. "Poverty, family process, and the mental health of immigrant children in Canada," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 92(2), pages 220-227.
    5. Case, Anne & Fertig, Angela & Paxson, Christina, 2005. "The lasting impact of childhood health and circumstance," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 365-389, March.
    6. Daise Fernanda Santos Souza Escobar & Thais Ferreira de Jesus & Priscilla Rayanne e Silva Noll & Matias Noll, 2020. "Family and School Context: Effects on the Mental Health of Brazilian Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-13, August.
    7. Ferdinand Salonna & Andrea Geckova & Ivan Zezula & Maria Sleskova & Johan Groothoff & Sijmen Reijneveld & Jitse Dijk, 2012. "Does social support mediate or moderate socioeconomic differences in self-rated health among adolescents?," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 57(3), pages 609-617, June.
    8. Matthias Richter & Nico Dragano, 2018. "Micro, macro, but what about meso? The institutional context of health inequalities," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 63(2), pages 163-164, March.
    9. Kelly Morgan & G. J. Melendez-Torres & Amy Bond & Jemma Hawkins & Gillian Hewitt & Simon Murphy & Graham Moore, 2019. "Socio-Economic Inequalities in Adolescent Summer Holiday Experiences, and Mental Wellbeing on Return to School: Analysis of the School Health Research Network/Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children ," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-13, March.
    10. Fialho, Paula Mayara Matos & Dragano, Nico & Reuter, Marvin & Metzendorf, Maria-Inti & Richter, Bernd & Hoffmann, Stephanie & Diehl, Katharina & Wachtler, Benjamin & Sundmacher, L. & Herke, Max & Pisc, 2020. "Mapping the evidence regarding school-to-work/university transition and health inequalities among young adults: a scoping review protocol," Munich Reprints in Economics 84787, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    11. Petra Rattay & Elena von der Lippe & Elvira Mauz & Felicitas Richter & Heike Hölling & Cornelia Lange & Thomas Lampert, 2018. "Health and health risk behaviour of adolescents—Differences according to family structure. Results of the German KiGGS cohort study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(3), pages 1-19, March.
    12. Michael R. Kramer & Eric B. Schneider & Jennifer B. Kane & Claire Margerison-Zilko & Jessica Jones-Smith & Katherine King & Pamela Davis-Kean & Joseph G. Grzywacz, 2017. "Getting Under the Skin: Children’s Health Disparities as Embodiment of Social Class," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 36(5), pages 671-697, October.
    13. Godwin S Ashiabi & Keri K O'Neal, 2007. "Children's Health Status: Examining the Associations among Income Poverty, Material Hardship, and Parental Factors," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 2(9), pages 1-9, September.
    14. James Nazroo, 2017. "Class and Health Inequality in Later Life: Patterns, Mechanisms and Implications for Policy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-19, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mathias Huebener, 2017. "Intergenerational Effects of Education on Risky Health Behaviours and Long-Term Health," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1709, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    2. Christelis, Dimitris & Dobrescu, Loretti I. & Motta, Alberto, 2020. "Early life conditions and financial risk-taking in older age," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 17(C).
    3. Verónica Amarante & Marco Manacorda & Edward Miguel & Andrea Vigorito, 2016. "Do Cash Transfers Improve Birth Outcomes? Evidence from Matched Vital Statistics, Program, and Social Security Data," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 8(2), pages 1-43, May.
    4. Brian Beach & Martin Saavedra, 2015. "Mitigating the Effects of Low Birth Weight: Evidence from Randomly Assigned Adoptees," American Journal of Health Economics, MIT Press, vol. 1(3), pages 275-296, Summer.
    5. Zsuzsa Lábiscsák-Erdélyi & Ilona Veres-Balajti & Annamária Somhegyi & Karolina Kósa, 2022. "Self-Esteem Is Independent Factor and Moderator of School-Related Psychosocial Determinants of Life Satisfaction in Adolescents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-14, May.
    6. Thomas Barnay, 2016. "Health, work and working conditions: a review of the European economic literature," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 17(6), pages 693-709, July.
    7. Svetlana Pashchenko & Ponpoje (Poe) Porapakkarm & Mariacristina De Nardi, 2017. "The Lifetime Costs of Bad Health," 2017 Meeting Papers 533, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    8. Kalwij, Adriaan, 2018. "The effects of competition outcomes on health: Evidence from the lifespans of U.S. Olympic medalists," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 276-286.
    9. Jayanta Sarkar & Dipanwita Sarkar, 2016. "Why Does Child Labor Persist With Declining Poverty?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 54(1), pages 139-158, January.
    10. Heather Conde & James Ted McDonald, 2007. "The Health Services Use Among Older Canadians in Rural and Urban Areas," Social and Economic Dimensions of an Aging Population Research Papers 178, McMaster University.
    11. Pedro Albarran Pérez & Marisa Hidalgo Hidalgo & Iñigo Iturbe-Ormaetxe Kortajarene, 2017. "Schooling and adult health: Can education overcome bad early-life conditions?," Working Papers. Serie AD 2017-09, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    12. repec:ucn:wpaper:10197/317 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Annarita BALDANZI & Alberto BUCCI & Klaus PRETTNER, 2016. "The Effects of Health Investments on Human Capital and R&D-Driven Economic Growth," Departmental Working Papers 2016-17, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano.
    14. Mitrut, Andreea & Wolff, François-Charles, 2011. "The impact of legalized abortion on child health outcomes and abandonment. Evidence from Romania," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 1219-1231.
    15. Cassandra Robertson & Rourke O’Brien, 2018. "Health Endowment at Birth and Variation in Intergenerational Economic Mobility: Evidence From U.S. County Birth Cohorts," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(1), pages 249-269, February.
    16. Aggarwal, Khushboo & Barua, Rashmi & Vidal-Fernandez, Marian, 2024. "Still Waters Run Deep: Groundwater Contamination and Education Outcomes in India," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    17. Camilla Beck Olsen & Hans Olav Melberg, 2018. "Did adolescents in Norway respond to the elimination of copayments for general practitioner services?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(7), pages 1120-1130, July.
    18. Datta Gupta, Nabanita & Lausten, Mette & Pozzoli, Dario, 2012. "Does Mother Know Best? Parental Discrepancies in Assessing Child Functioning," IZA Discussion Papers 6962, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Sonja Settele & Reyn van Ewijk, 2017. "The effect of cigarette taxes during pregnancy on educational outcomes of the next generation," IAAEU Discussion Papers 201703, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).
    20. Elovainio, Marko & Pulkki-Råback, Laura & Jokela, Markus & Kivimäki, Mika & Hintsanen, Mirka & Hintsa, Taina & Viikari, Jorma & Raitakari, Olli T. & Keltikangas-Järvinen, Liisa, 2012. "Socioeconomic status and the development of depressive symptoms from childhood to adulthood: A longitudinal analysis across 27 years of follow-up in the Young Finns study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(6), pages 923-929.
    21. Schultz, T. Paul, 2010. "Population and Health Policies," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Dani Rodrik & Mark Rosenzweig (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 4785-4881, Elsevier.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:15:p:7739-:d:598457. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.