Changes in Subjective Social Status From Early to Late Adolescence: Implications for Mental and Physical Health

Despite consistent connections between subjective social status (SSS) and adult mental and physical health, few studies have examined how SSS changes from early to late adolescence and how it influences health over this period.

In this four-wave longitudinal study, we assessed 221 youth (aged 9-13 years at baseline) every 2 years, measuring SSS and indicators of mental health (symptoms of depression and anxiety) and physical health (body mass index [BMI] and caregiver-rated health). Linear mixed models estimated the longitudinal trajectory of SSS across the study period and tested whether changes in SSS were associated with changes in health. In addition, models evaluated how individual differences in SSS and health changed over time.

Youths' SSS declined significantly from early to late adolescence (b = -.13, p = .007). Decreases in SSS over time were associated with increases in symptoms of depression (b = -.31, p < .001) and anxiety (b = -1.96, p < .001), and with increases in BMI (b = -.30, p = .002). Between-person analyses indicated that higher SSS was associated with fewer depressive and anxious symptoms (b = -0.30, p < .001; b = -1.50, p < .001) and with lower BMI (b = -.21, p = .01), but was not related to caregiver-rated physical health. Associations of SSS with depressive symptoms became stronger across adolescence; in contrast, associations of SSS with anxiety and BMI were stable.

Our findings underscore the importance of adolescence as a period during which perceptions of socioeconomic position change, with significant implications for mental and physical health.