Childhood antecedents of socioeconomic and health-related disadvantage in adulthood: The role of behavioural factors and school performance
Year: 2013
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Social exclusion, in general, is seen as a long-term process that is multidimensional and cumulative. It includes educational, occupational, social, normative and the exercise of power; the present study focused on the first three of these dimensions. They were chosen, because they are closely related to the other dimensions of exclusion (normative and the exercise of power) and because they were most relevant from the public health view. Particular interest was to find those less serious factors of the exclusion process that can still be influenced. Thus, the aim of the present study was to examine in two large population-based samples childhood and adolescence characteristics that may be involved in the process of educational, occupational or social exclusion. It was hypothesized that 1) social status among classmates is related to temperament and that social status is associated with higher self-esteem. Further expectations were that 2) disruptive childhood behaviour is associated with both poor school performance at comprehensive school and 3) a lower socioeconomic position in adulthood and that 4) poor school performance associates with obesity in adulthood. The findings supported the hypotheses. Adolescent s self-perception of their social self-esteem was highly associated with social and general self-esteem, whereas the association with family self-esteem was lower in magnitude. It was shown that different aspects of self-esteem have a different impact on a person s social status in general. Disruptive childhood behaviour was associated with poor school performance throughout the school years, but its impact first started in middle childhood. Within these associations a gender-related difference was also found: hyperactivity was negatively associated with girls school performance, while aggression was detrimental for boys school success. Disruptive childhood behaviour further associated with educational and occupational status in adulthood, but it had no effect on income. Childhood aggression predicted educational and occupational status in adulthood, whereas hyperactivity only had an effect on education. A gender-related association was also found between poor school performance and adulthood obesity: poor school performance was a risk factor for women s health. To sum up, it was shown that early behaviour and school performance are associated with later socioeconomic and health-related outcomes. These finding suggest that the roots of detrimental development can already be found in childhood. From the perspective of public health and its improvement, identifying those children at risk is highly relevant.
Source: Työväentutkimus Vuosikirja
Author: Saija Alatupa
Language: English
Subfield: Health
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W781479786