Country material distribution and adolescents’ perceived health: multilevel study of adolescents in 27 countries
- 1University of Bergen, Department Education and Health Promotion, Norway
- 2Child and Adolescent Health Research Unit (CAHRU), The Moray House School of Education, University of Edinburgh, Scotland
- 3Social Program Evaluation Group, McArthur Hall, Queen’s University, Canada
- Correspondence to: Dr T Torsheim University of Bergen, Department Education and Health Promotion, Christiesgt 13, N-5015, Bergen, Norway; torbjoern.torsheim{at}psyhp.uib.no
- Accepted 3 October 2005
Abstract
Objective: To assess the impact of country material distribution on adolescents’ perceptions of health.
Design: Cross sectional multilevel study.
Setting: Data were collected from the school based health behaviour in school aged children: WHO cross national study 1997/98, which includes students from 27 European and North American countries.
Participants: 12 0381 students in year 6, 8, and 10 who were attending school classes on the day of data collection.
Main result: Adolescents in countries with a high dispersion of family affluence were more likely to have self rated poor health even after controlling for individual family level of affluence and family social resources.
Conclusion: There are substantial inequalities in subjective health across European and North American countries related to the distribution of family material resources in these countries.
Footnotes
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Funding: none.
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Competing interests: none declared.
