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Socioeconomic determinants of health related quality of life in childhood and adolescence: results from a European study
Author(s) -
Spencer Nick
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
child: care, health and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.832
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1365-2214
pISSN - 0305-1862
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2214.2006.00674_2.x
Subject(s) - socioeconomic status , quality of life (healthcare) , psychology , medicine , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , demography , environmental health , population , sociology , psychotherapist
Socioeconomic determinants of health related quality of life in childhood and adolescence: results from a European study.
Von Rueden , U. , Gosch , A. , Rajmil , L. , Bisegger , C. , Ravens‐Sieberer , U.,the European KIDSCREEN group(2006)Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health,60,130–135.Study objective The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of two different socio‐economic status (SES) measures on child and adolescent self‐reported health‐related quality of life (HRQoL). The European KIDSCREEN project aims at simultaneous developing, testing and implementing a generic HRQoL instrument. Design and setting The pilot version of the questionnaire was applied in school surveys to students from 8 to 18 years of age, as well as to their parents, together with such determinants of health status as two SES indicators, the parental educational status and the number of material goods in the family (family affluence scale). Participants Students from seven European countries: 754 children (39.8%; mean: 9.8 years), and 1142 adolescents (60.2%; mean: 14.1 years), as well as their respective parents. Main results In children, a higher parental educational status was found to have a significant positive impact on the KIDSCREEN dimensions: physical well‐being, psychological well‐being, moods and emotions, bullying and perceived financial resources. Increased risk of low HRQoL was detected for adolescents in connection with their physical well‐being. Family wealth plays a part for children’s physical well‐being, parent relations and home life, and perceived financial resources. For adolescents, family wealth furthermore predicts HRQoL on all KIDSCREEN dimensions. Conclusions There is evidence to suggest that exposure to low parental educational status may result in a decreased HRQoL in childhood, whereas reduced access to material (and thereby social) resources may lead to a lower HRQoL especially in adolescence.