The Family Affluence Scale as an Indicator for Socioeconomic Status: Validation on Regional Income Differences in the Czech Republic

Vladimir Hobza, Zdenek Hamrik, Jens Bucksch and Bart De Clercq
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Vladimir Hobza: Faculty of Physical Culture, Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies, Palacky University Olomouc, 771 47 Olomouc, Czech Republic
Zdenek Hamrik: Faculty of Physical Culture, Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies, Palacky University Olomouc, 771 47 Olomouc, Czech Republic
Jens Bucksch: Department of Natural and Human Sciences, University of Education Heidelberg, D-69032 Heidelberg, Germany
Bart De Clercq: Department of Public Health, Ghent University, 9000 Gent, Belgium

IJERPH, 2017, vol. 14, issue 12, 1-9

Abstract: The Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children study (HBSC) uses the Family Affluence Scale (FAS) as a tool to identify the socioeconomic status of children and adolescents. Even though it is now widely applied in research studies, the external criterion validation of FAS has not been verified in terms of objective economic indicators in Central Europe. The aim of this study is to validate FAS in terms of disposable income per capita in 14 Czech administrative regions. Regional differences in the FAS score were analyzed using Pearson correlation and linear regression to measure the dependency of the aggregated mean of the FAS index at the regional level on data from the Czech HSBC survey carried out from April to June 2014 ( n = 10,361). The data analysis has shown an overall positive correlation between the FAS index and regional disposable income (R = 0.77, p < 0.01). The regional disposable income per person could explain 59.7% of the variance in the FAS index ( p < 0.01). By validating individual items, the authors identified three items with a significant correlation ( p < 0.01): number of computers, dishwasher at home, and number of holidays. FAS seems to be a valid instrument to measure adolescents’ socioeconomic status.

Keywords: family affluence; Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC); validation; disposable income per household; regional economic differences (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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