Journal
HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY
Volume 26, Issue 6, Pages 668-674Publisher
AMER PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOC/EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING FOUNDATION
DOI: 10.1037/0278-6133.26.6.668
Keywords
risk factors; socioeconomic status; subjective social status; women; cardiovascular health
Categories
Funding
- NHLBI NIH HHS [1R01 HL 081604] Funding Source: Medline
- NIMH NIH HHS [1R03 MH 66101-01] Funding Source: Medline
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Objective: Subjective perceptions of personal social status may relate to health beyond the effects of objective socioeconomic status (SES). The authors examined the relationship between subjective social status (SSS) and psychosocial, behavioral, and physical cardiovascular risk factors in middle-aged women. Design: Ninety-two women (90.2% White) completed ladder-based, pictorial self-report measures of SSS relative to others in their community and in the United States. Psychosocial measures of depression, anxiety, pessimism, stress, and social support and behavioral risk factors of fruit and vegetable consumption, leisure physical activity, and body-mass index were obtained. In addition, women underwent measurement of clinic blood pressure and assessment of daytime ambulatory systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP; DBP) over 2 consecutive days. Results: Community SSS was significantly inversely related to anxiety, pessimism, stress, and daytime ambulatory DBP after controlling for objective SES and U.S. SSS. Women with lower U.S. SSS showed less healthy dietary and exercise behaviors and, contrary to predictions, lower clinic and ambulatory DBP. Conclusion: This study provides additional evidence that perceptions of one's position in the social hierarchy could have important health implications beyond the impact of objective SES. Further, the cardiovascular risk implications of perceived community versus U.S. social status appear to be distinct.
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