TY - JOUR
T1 - Explaining the link between low socioeconomic status and psychopathology
T2 - Testing two mechanisms of the social causation hypothesis
AU - Wadsworth, Martha E.
AU - Achenbach, Thomas M.
PY - 2005/12
Y1 - 2005/12
N2 - Two mechanisms of the hypothesized social causation of psychopathology - differential incidence and cumulative prevalence - were tested over 9 years in a nationally representative sample of 1,075 children and youths, ages 8-17 at Time 1 (1986). Analyses using parental responses on behavior checklists at 4 time points showed significant increases in clinical elevations for those of the lowest socioeconomic status (SES) on anxious/depressed, somatic complaints, thought problems, delinquent, and aggressive syndromes. This SES-linked differential incidence supports the social causation hypothesis that factors associated with SES contribute to variations in levels of psychological problems. SES-linked differential cumulative prevalence was found for withdrawn and somatic complaints; this finding indicates that low-SES cases do not improve as much as do middle- and high-SES cases, which results in greater accumulation of low-SES cases.
AB - Two mechanisms of the hypothesized social causation of psychopathology - differential incidence and cumulative prevalence - were tested over 9 years in a nationally representative sample of 1,075 children and youths, ages 8-17 at Time 1 (1986). Analyses using parental responses on behavior checklists at 4 time points showed significant increases in clinical elevations for those of the lowest socioeconomic status (SES) on anxious/depressed, somatic complaints, thought problems, delinquent, and aggressive syndromes. This SES-linked differential incidence supports the social causation hypothesis that factors associated with SES contribute to variations in levels of psychological problems. SES-linked differential cumulative prevalence was found for withdrawn and somatic complaints; this finding indicates that low-SES cases do not improve as much as do middle- and high-SES cases, which results in greater accumulation of low-SES cases.
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U2 - 10.1037/0022-006X.73.6.1146
DO - 10.1037/0022-006X.73.6.1146
M3 - Article
C2 - 16392987
AN - SCOPUS:31544452078
SN - 0022-006X
VL - 73
SP - 1146
EP - 1153
JO - Journal of consulting and clinical psychology
JF - Journal of consulting and clinical psychology
IS - 6
ER -