Developmental Trajectories of Subjective Social Status

Area of Science:

• Sociology
• Developmental Psychology
• Public Health

Background:

• Subjective social status (SSS) strongly correlates with adult health but not adolescent health.
• Understanding the developmental trajectory of SSS is crucial to explain this discrepancy.
• This study examines SSS changes during the transition from adolescence to adulthood.

Purpose of the Study:

• Identify the number and shape of SSS trajectories in youth transitioning to adulthood.
• Investigate the impact of SSS trajectory membership on health outcomes in young adulthood.

Main Methods:

• Utilized latent class growth models on data from 7436 assessments in a decade-long cohort study of non-Hispanic Black and white youth.
• Selected the optimal model based on fit, trajectory structure, and shape.
• Explored associations between SSS trajectory membership and Body Mass Index (BMI) and depressive symptoms.

Main Results:

• A 5-class model was optimal, identifying trajectories: persistent high (7.8%), mid-high (32.2%), middle (43.4%), low-lower (7.4%), and high-low (9.1%).
• Membership in the high-low SSS trajectory was linked to non-Hispanic Black race/ethnicity, lower income, and lower parental education.
• High-low trajectory membership correlated with higher BMI and depressive symptoms in non-Hispanic white young adults, and with lower BMI in non-Hispanic Black young adults after adolescent BMI adjustment.

Conclusions:

• Subjective social status (SSS) demonstrates relative stability during the transition from adolescence to adulthood.
• SSS generally aligns with objective socioeconomic indicators.
• Socially disadvantaged adolescents with initially high SSS may experience elevated health risks in young adulthood.