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RESEARCH PRODUCT

National-Level Wealth Inequality and Socioeconomic Inequality in Adolescent Mental Well-Being: A Time Series Analysis of 17 Countries

Maxim DierckensDominic WeinbergYanyan HuangFrank ElgarIrene MoorLilly AugustineNelli LyyraBenedicte DeforcheBart De ClercqGonneke W.j.m. StevensCandace CurrieYouth In Changing Cultural ContextsLeerstoel Finkenauer

subject

Health BehaviorPoison controlAdolescent healthHEALTH COMPLAINTSPediatricshenkinen hyvinvointi0302 clinical medicinenuoretEconomic inequalityCHILDMedicine and Health Sciences030212 general & internal medicineChildmedia_commonHBSCSocioeconomic inequalityPerinatologyand Child HealthPsychiatry and Mental healthMental HealtheriarvoisuusIncomePediatrics Perinatology and Child Health Public Health Environmental and Occupational Health Psychiatry and Mental health Wealth inequality Income inequality Socioeconomic inequality Mental well-being Adolescent health HBSC HEALTH COMPLAINTS INCOME INEQUALITY CHILD BEHAVIORPublic HealthPsychologyBEHAVIORAdolescent healthInequalityAdolescentMental well-beingmedia_common.quotation_subjectMeasures of national income and outputWealth inequality03 medical and health sciencesvertaileva tutkimus030225 pediatricstuloerotHumansPediatrics Perinatology and Child HealthIncome inequalitySocioeconomic statussosioekonomiset tekijätEnvironmental and Occupational HealthPublic Health Environmental and Occupational HealthHealth Status Disparitiesaikasarja-analyysiCross-Sectional StudiesSocial ClassSocioeconomic FactorsPediatrics Perinatology and Child HealthNational wealthDemographic economicsterveyserotRedistribution of income and wealth

description

Purpose: Although previous research has established a positive association between national income inequality and socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent health, very little is known about the extent to which national-level wealth inequalities (i.e., accumulated financial resources) are associated with these inequalities in health. Therefore, this study examined the association between national wealth inequality and income inequality and socioeconomic inequality in adolescents' mental well-being at the aggregated level. Methods: Data were from 17 countries participating in three consecutive waves (2010, 2014, and 2018) of the cross-sectional Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study. We aggregated data on adolescents' life satisfaction, psychological and somatic symptoms, and socioeconomic status (SES) to produce a country-level slope index of inequality and combined it with country-level data on income inequality and wealth inequality (n = 244,771). Time series analyses were performed on a pooled sample of 48 country-year groups. Results: Higher levels of national wealth inequality were associated with fewer average psychological and somatic symptoms, while higher levels of national income inequality were associated with more psychological and somatic symptoms. No associations between either national wealth inequality or income inequality and life satisfaction were found. Smaller differences in somatic symptoms between higher and lower SES groups were found in countries with higher levels of national wealth inequality. In contrast, larger differences in psychological symptoms and life satisfaction (but not somatic symptoms) between higher and lower SES groups were found in countries with higher levels of national income inequality. Conclusions: Although both national wealth and income inequality are associated with socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent mental well-being at the aggregated level, associations are in opposite directions. Social policies aimed at a redistribution of income resources at the national level could decrease socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent mental well-being while further research is warranted to gain a better understanding of the role of national wealth inequality in socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent health. (C) 2020 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2020-06-01Journal of Adolescent Health
10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.03.009https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.03.009