Examining the link between socio-economic position and mental health in early adolescents

Mental health (MH) is fundamental to good quality of life and contributes to success in society. Healthy and confident children are more likely to turn out into healthy and confident adults. Adverse family situations such as low socio-economic position (SEP) may have negative consequences for child and adolescent MH. However, little is known about the link between low family SEP and MH. This thesis examined four aspects of this link: 1) the domain-specific link, 2) the mediation link, 3) the interaction link, and 4) the link with MH service use.

The link between low SEP and MH was found to be larger for the externalizing than internalizing problem domain and the SEP-MH relationship was partly mediated by environment-related life stressors, particularly for internalizing problems. Familial psychopathology and low SEP were independent and non-interacting risk factors for offspring MH problems. Finally, the true association between SEP and MH service use was obscured by severity of mental problems. Maternal education, independent of other indices of SEP and severity of MH problems, significantly predicted MH service use.

In conclusion, the effect of low family SEP on MH may be domain-specific, partly mediated by environment-related life stressors and the synergy between low SEP and parental psychopathology appear not to confer additional risks for mental problems in offspring. Further, failure to correct for severity of mental problems obscures the true association between SEP and MH service use in early adolescents. Finally, although the effects of SEP on MH may be relatively small, the negative SEP-MH association may be cumulative as suggested by previous studies. Since early adolescence is still at the beginning of the life-course, small SEP differences in early life may give rise to increasing differences later in the life. Therefore, interventions to ameliorate the negative effect of low SEP in families may be an important investment.

	Titel en inhoudsopgave
	Hoofdstuk 1
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	Algemene conclusies en discussies
	Samenvatting
	Dankwoord
	Curriculum vitae
	Lijst met publicaties
	Achterflap samenvatting
	Volledige dissertatie

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