Subjective social status, self-rated health and tobacco smoking: Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil)

Using baseline data from ELSA-Brasil (N = 15,105), we investigated whether subjective social status, measured using three 10-rung “ladders,” is associated with self-rated health and smoking, independently of objective indicators of social position and depression symptoms. Additionally, we explored whether the magnitude of these associations varies according to the reference group. Subjective social status was independently associated with poor self-rated health and weakly associated with former smoking. The references used for social comparison did not change these associations significantly. Subjective social status, education, and income represent distinct aspects of social inequities, and the impact of each of these indicators on health is different.

[1]  C. Sophia,et al.  MacArthur scale of subjective social status. , 2014 .

[2]  Timothy W. Smith,et al.  Subjective Social Status: Construct Validity and Associations with Psychosocial Vulnerability and Self-Rated Health , 2013, International Journal of Behavioral Medicine.

[3]  S. Barreto,et al.  Reliability of the MacArthur scale of subjective social status - Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil) , 2012, BMC Public Health.

[4]  F. Proietti,et al.  Who experiences discrimination in Brazil? Evidence from a large metropolitan region , 2012, International Journal for Equity in Health.

[5]  D. Levy,et al.  The Brazil SimSmoke Policy Simulation Model: The Effect of Strong Tobacco Control Policies on Smoking Prevalence and Smoking-Attributable Deaths in a Middle Income Nation , 2012, PLoS medicine.

[6]  T. Theorell,et al.  Subjective social status: its determinants and association with health in the Swedish working population (the SLOSH study). , 2012, European journal of public health.

[7]  David R. Williams,et al.  Subjective social status and psychosocial and metabolic risk factors for cardiovascular disease among African Americans in the Jackson Heart Study. , 2012, Social science & medicine.

[8]  Moyses Szklo,et al.  American Journal of Epidemiology Practice of Epidemiology Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (elsa-brasil): Objectives and Design , 2022 .

[9]  N. Adler,et al.  Subjective Social Status and Functional Decline in Older Adults , 2012, Journal of General Internal Medicine.

[10]  D. Kendzor,et al.  Subjective social status predicts long-term smoking abstinence , 2011, BMC public health.

[11]  I. Kawachi,et al.  Compared to whom? Subjective social status, self-rated health, and referent group sensitivity in a diverse US sample. , 2010, Social science & medicine.

[12]  I. Kawachi,et al.  Subjective Social Status, a New Measure in Health Disparities Research , 2010, Journal of health psychology.

[13]  D. Wetter,et al.  Subjective social status affects smoking abstinence during acute withdrawal through affective mediators. , 2010, Addiction.

[14]  J. Flory,et al.  Subjective Socioeconomic Status and Presence of the Metabolic Syndrome in Midlife Community Volunteers , 2010, Psychosomatic medicine.

[15]  M. Jylhä.  What is self-rated health and why does it predict mortality? Towards a unified conceptual model. , 2009, Social science & medicine.

[16]  G. Gee,et al.  Examining Alternative Measures of Social Disadvantage Among Asian Americans: The Relevance of Economic Opportunity, Subjective Social Status, and Financial Strain for Health , 2009, Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health.

[17]  N. Adler,et al.  Objective and subjective social class gradients for substance use among Mexican adolescents. , 2009, Social science & medicine.

[18]  E. Breeze,et al.  Socioeconomic status and health: the role of subjective social status. , 2008, Social science & medicine.

[19]  K. Matthews,et al.  Social status and health: a comparison of British civil servants in Whitehall-II with European- and African-Americans in CARDIA. , 2008, Social science & medicine.

[20]  S. Ghaed,et al.  Subjective social status, objective socioeconomic status, and cardiovascular risk in women. , 2007, Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association.

[21]  D. Wetter,et al.  The influence of subjective social status on vulnerability to postpartum smoking among young pregnant women. , 2007, American journal of public health.

[22]  Daniel M. Finkelstein,et al.  Social status, stress, and adolescent smoking. , 2006, The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine.

[23]  M. Marmot,et al.  What does self rated health measure? Results from the British Whitehall II and French Gazel cohort studies , 2006, Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

[24]  N. Adler,et al.  Does Subjective Social Status Predict Health and Change in Health Status Better Than Objective Status? , 2005, Psychosomatic medicine.

[25]  N. Adler,et al.  Relationship Between Subjective Social Status and Measures of Health in Older Taiwanese Persons , 2005, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

[26]  David R. Williams,et al.  Subjective social status: reliability and predictive utility for global health , 2004 .

[27]  Birf.  Pesquisa Nacional por amostra de domicílios , 2003 .

[28]  N. Adler,et al.  Subjective social status: its determinants and its association with measures of ill-health in the Whitehall II study. , 2003, Social science & medicine.

[29]  E. Epel,et al.  Relationship of subjective and objective social status with psychological and physiological functioning: preliminary data in healthy white women. , 2000, Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association.

[30]  R. Wilkinson,et al.  Socioeconomic determinants of health: Health inequalities: relative or absolute material standards? , 1997 .

[31]  V. Barnett,et al.  Applied Linear Statistical Models , 1975 .

[32]  J. Davis.  Status symbols and the measurement of status perception. , 1956 .

[33]  M. Rosenberg.  Perceptual Obstacles to Class Consciousness , 1953 .

[34]  Ministério da Saúde,et al.  Vigitel Brasil 2011: Vigilância de Fatores de Risco e Proteção para Doenças Crônicas por Inquérito Telefônico , 2012 .

[35]  S. L. Lissel,et al.  Status syndrome. , 2006, JAMA.