Socioeconomic inequalities in mental well-being among Hungarian adolescents: a cross-sectional study

International Journal for Equity in Health

Kevin M Fitzpatrick²  Bettina F Piko³  Szabolcs Varga¹ 

[1] Institute of Behavioral Sciences, Semmelweis University, 1089 Nagyvarad sqr. 4, Budapest, Hungary;Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, 72701, AR, USA;Department of Behavioral Sciences, University of Szeged, 6722 Szentharomsag str. 5, Szeged, Hungary

关键词: Mental well-being;    Mental health;    Adolescents;    Socioeconomic status;   

Others  :  1137593
DOI  :  10.1186/s12939-014-0100-8

 received in 2014-05-17, accepted in 2014-10-13,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Introduction

According to several empirical studies, mental well-being is significant in adolescence; adolescent’s social network is undergoing radical changes while at the same time depression is increasing. The primary goal of our study is to determine whether socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with mental health status of Hungarian adolescents and the strength and nature of this association.

Methods

Our sample was comprised of three high schools of Debrecen (the second largest city of Hungary). Data were collected in January 2013. In all, 471 students filled out the questionnaire from 22 classes (14–18 years old). ‘Absolute’ (education and occupational status of the parents, assessed by the adolescent) and ‘subjective’ (self-assessment of family’s social class) SES measures and five mental health indicators (shyness, loneliness, need to belong, psychosomatic symptoms, self-esteem) were involved. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression analyses were used to examine the relationships between family SES and mental health indicators.

Results

Our results indicate that association between adolescents’ ‘subjective’ SES and mental well-being is not gradient-like. Manual employment and unemployment status of both parents also proved to be significant determinants of mental health status.

Conclusions

According to our results, professionals of school-based mental health programs should consider students whose parents are unemployed or have manual occupational status as a high risk group in terms of mental well-being.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Varga et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

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