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Abstract
The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of two different socioeconomic
status (SES) measures on child and adolescent self reported health related quality
of life (HRQoL). The European KIDSCREEN project aims at simultaneous developing, testing,
and implementing a generic HRQoL instrument.
The pilot version of the questionnaire was applied in school surveys to students from
8 to 18 years of age, as well as to their parents, together with such determinants
of health status as two SES indicators, the parental educational status and the number
of material goods in the family (FAS, family affluence scale).
Students from seven European countries: 754 children (39.8%; mean: 9.8 years), and
1142 adolescents (60.2 %; mean: 14.1 years), as well as their respective parents.
In children, a higher parental educational status was found to have a significant
positive impact on the KIDSCREEN dimensions: physical wellbeing, psychological wellbeing,
moods and emotions, bullying and perceived financial resources. Increased risk of
low HRQoL was detected for adolescents in connection with their physical wellbeing.
Family wealth plays a part for children's physical wellbeing, parent relations and
home life, and perceived financial resources. For adolescents, family wealth furthermore
predicts HRQoL on all KIDSCREEN dimensions.
There is evidence to suggest that exposure to low parental educational status may
result in a decreased HRQoL in childhood, whereas reduced access to material (and
thereby social) resources may lead to a lower HRQoL especially in adolescence.