Socioeconomic Inequalities in Health among Armenian Adolescents

Armen A. Torchyan and Hans Bosma
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Armen A. Torchyan: Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine and King Khalid University Hospital, King Saud University, P.O. Box 7805, Riyadh 11472, Saudi Arabia
Hans Bosma: Department of Social Medicine, Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI), Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 11, 1-9

Abstract: We aimed to study the hypothesis of socioeconomic equalization in health among Armenian adolescents participating in the Health Behavior in School-Aged Children 2013/14 survey. Classes corresponding to the ages 11, 13, and 15 were selected using a clustered sampling design. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used. In a nationally representative sample of 3679 students, adolescents with a low family socioeconomic position (SEP) had greater odds of reporting less than good health (odds ratio (OR) = 2.81, 95% CI = 2.25–3.51), low psychosocial well-being (OR = 1.94, 95% CI = 1.44–2.61), or psychosomatic symptoms (OR = 1.29, 95% CI = 1.07–1.56). Low levels of material well-being were associated with a higher likelihood of reporting less than good health (OR = 1.32, 95% CI = 1.06–1.65) or low psychosocial well-being (OR = 1.27, 95% CI = 1.04–1.54). The presence of both risk factors had a synergistic effect on having low psychosocial well-being ( P -interaction = 0.031). Refuting the equalization hypothesis, our results indicate that low SEP might be strongly related to adolescent health in middle-income countries such as Armenia. Low material well-being also proved important, and, for further research, we hypothesized an association via decreased peer social status and compromised popularity.

Keywords: adolescent; Armenia; equalization; HBSC; health status; material well-being; popularity; psychosocial well-being; psychosomatic symptoms; socioeconomic status (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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