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Measuring the Socioeconomic Position of Adolescents: A Proposal for a Composite Index

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  • Concepción Moreno-Maldonado

    (University of Seville)

  • Francisco Rivera

    (University of Huelva)

  • Pilar Ramos

    (University of Seville)

  • Carmen Moreno

    (University of Seville)

Abstract

Despite evidence that socioeconomic inequalities impact health, studies on adolescents are limited and often show contradictory results depending on the measures employed to evaluate socioeconomic position. Little research has focused on the differential impact of each indicator on adolescent health, and few measures have been developed that provide a global evaluation. In this research, the relationship between classic socioeconomic indicators (education and occupation) and others that have been proposed more recently (family affluence scale and subjective family wealth) is analysed. A composite global score of socioeconomic position is also presented, based on the principal objective dimensions: parental education, parental occupation and family material wealth. Data were collected in Spain, in 2014, within the framework of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study, from a representative national sample of 8739 adolescents aged between 11 and 16 (mean = 13.72, SD = 1.71). The results contribute to resolving methodological difficulties associated with the evaluation of adolescent socioeconomic position, showing the unidimensionality of a global measure of objective wealth and demonstrating it to be a useful instrument for assessing the socioeconomic position in health inequalities research. The subjective perception of wealth presented a similar, and even higher, association with health than the objective measures. However, low correlations between perceived family wealth and the objective socioeconomic indicators (oscillating between .110 and .299) proved to measure a different construct, and thus was not included in the composite measure for assessing the adolescents’ objective socioeconomic position. Results highlighted the importance of including different indicators for measuring socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent health.

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  • Concepción Moreno-Maldonado & Francisco Rivera & Pilar Ramos & Carmen Moreno, 2018. "Measuring the Socioeconomic Position of Adolescents: A Proposal for a Composite Index," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 136(2), pages 517-538, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:136:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1007_s11205-017-1567-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-017-1567-7
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    1. Concepción Moreno-Maldonado & Pilar Ramos & Carmen Moreno & Francisco Rivera, 2019. "Direct and Indirect Influences of Objective Socioeconomic Position on Adolescent Health: The Mediating Roles of Subjective Socioeconomic Status and Lifestyles," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-21, May.
    2. Dominic Weinberg & Gonneke W. J. M. Stevens & Elisa L. Duinhof & Catrin Finkenauer, 2019. "Adolescent Socioeconomic Status and Mental Health Inequalities in the Netherlands, 2001–2017," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-18, September.
    3. Dominic Weinberg & Gonneke W J M Stevens & Catrin Finkenauer & Bert Brunekreef & Henriëtte A Smit & Alet H Wijga, 2019. "The pathways from parental and neighbourhood socioeconomic status to adolescent educational attainment: An examination of the role of cognitive ability, teacher assessment, and educational expectation," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(5), pages 1-20, May.
    4. Panova, Anna (Панова, Анна), 2017. "Decision Making Mechanisms at University [Механизмы Принятия Решений В Университете]," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 2, pages 132-151, April.

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