Integrating Objective and Subjective Social Class to Advance Our Understanding of Externalizing Problem Behavior in Children and Adolescents: A Conceptual Review and Model

Longitudinal Relation between Family Socio-Economic Status and Problem Behaviors in Chinese Children: The Roles of Sense of Coherence and Maternal Warmth

Literature has well-documented the relation of family socio-economic status (SES) to children’s problem behaviors, yet the complex mechanisms underlying the relation are not well understood. Therefore, the primary goal of this one-year longitudinal study was to explore the mediating role of children’s sense of coherence and the moderating role of perceived maternal warmth in the association between family SES and externalizing and internalizing problems in Chinese children. The sample consisted of 913 children (493 boys; Mage = 11.50 years, SD = 1.04) in fourth to sixth grades in an urban area in mainland China. Data were obtained from multiple sources, including child self-reports, parental reports, and teacher ratings. The results indicated that children’s sense of coherence mediated the association between family SES and internalizing problem behaviors, but not externalizing problem behaviors. This mediating role was also moderated by maternal warmth and specifically, family SES was negatively associated with internalizing problem behaviors via the sense of coherence for children who perceived high maternal warmth. Generally, these results highlighted the possible roles of a sense of coherence and maternal warmth in the longitudinal implications of family SES for Chinese children’s internalizing problems.

The relationship between perceived income inequality, adverse mental health and interpersonal difficulties in UK adolescents

BACKGROUND

Adolescence is a period of life when young people increasingly define themselves through peer comparison and are vulnerable to developing mental health problems. In the current study, we investigated whether the subjective experience of economic disadvantage among friends is associated with social difficulties and poorer mental health in early adolescence.

METHODS

We used latent change score modelling (LCSM) on data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study, collected at ages 11 and 14 (N = 12,995). Each LCSM modelled the mean of an outcome related to mental health and interpersonal difficulties at age 11 (including self-esteem, well-being, emotional difficulties, peer problems, bullying, victimisation and externalising difficulties), the change of the outcome from ages 11 to 14 and its predictors, including perceived income inequality among friends (i.e. perceiving oneself as belonging to a poorer family than the families of one's friends).

RESULTS

Perceived income inequality predicted adverse mental health and a range of interpersonal difficulties during adolescence, even when controlling for objective family income. Follow-up analyses highlighted that, at 11 years, young people who perceived themselves as belonging to poorer families than their friends reported worse well-being, self-esteem, internalising problems, externalising problems and victimisation at the same age (relative to those who perceived themselves as richer than or equal to their friends, or who did not know). Longitudinal analyses suggested that victimisation decreased from ages 11 to 14 to a greater extent for adolescents who perceived themselves as poorer than other adolescents.

CONCLUSIONS

The salience of economic inequalities in proximal social environments (e.g. among friends) in early adolescence could further amplify the negative effects of economic disadvantage on mental health and behavioural difficulties during this period.