Socioeconomic Status Essay Example for Free

Socioeconomic Status Essay There are a lot of studies surrounding ones status and its effects on ones psychology. I will be discussing what a Socioeconomic Status is defined to be, certain test and effects it can have on ones psychological being and also how it effects you in certain settings. I will break this down in to parts beginning with how it is defined, then I will move on to the effects and tests, and lastly I will explain how it effects people in certain settings. Socioeconomic Status is mostly defined as a combined measurement of the work experience of an individual’s or their family’s economic and social state in relation to others based on their income, their education, and their current occupation. It is usually broken down into three categories such as High Socioeconomic Status, Middle Socioeconomic Status, and Low Socioeconomic Status. These categories are used to describe the three areas where an individual or family may fall. In studies it is show that those that fall into the Low SES (socioeconomic status) category tend to show signs of mental illnesses such as respiratory viruses, coronary disease, and schizophrenia. Certain work environments may cause these. As it comes to the mental health some say that the mental health issues may be the reason why they are in the social status they are in all together. There have been tests that have shown that Socioeconomic Status could be a cause or lead to the development of dementia. Those with Low SES have shown to be more associated with a higher prevalence of dementia. They also show an increase in psychiatric comorbidity and a worse baseline of cognitive functioning. These test were based off the data of 217 patients seen in an Inner City Memory Disorder Clinic. They were analyzed with respect on demographic status, clinical status and SES. The results showed that there was a wide variation in the samples examined with respect to most measures of SES. About one-third (36%) had a diagnosis of dementia at an average age of 66. 1.  There was a strong association between their age, the range of individual annual income, their education, medical comorbidity, and a diagnosis of dementia. The increase in age and medical comorbidity were shown to be the strongest factor. The tests concluded that increased age, low education, high medical comorbidity and a low annual income are all associated with a diagnosis of dementia in an inner city setting. There are also other studies such as the socioeconomic status and its effect on health and the exposure and vulnerability to daily stressors. The study examines interconnections among education as an alternate for socioeconomic status-stress, and physical and mental health by being specific about differential exposure and vulnerability models using data according to The National Study of Daily Experiences. The daily diary data allowed assessment of the social distribution of a quantity of different types of stressors than had before been studied in sociological stress research of daily stressors. The data also allowed a less biased assessment of stress exposure and a more micro-level examination of the connections between stress and health by socioeconomic status. Consistent with the literature describing socioeconomic inequalities in physical and mental health, the results of this study indicated that on any day, the adults who were better educated reported fewer physical symptoms and less psychological distress. Even so that better-educated individuals reported more daily stressors, those with less of an education reported that stressors were more severe. Neither of the factors explained any socioeconomic differences in daily health, but the results clearly shown that the stressor-health association can’t be considered independent of socioeconomic status. Another study would be the study of the use of resources in hospitals and how your socioeconomic status affects the amount of use dubbing the title â€Å"Do the poor cost more? † In this study it pertains to the controversy about whether the poor hospitalized patients use more resources and whether ospitals that give care to the poor award payment help under a certain payment system. It has been reported that the patients with a low socioeconomic status with connective tissue disease tend to stay longer in the hospital and had higher cost to take care of rather than the patients of high socioeconomic status. In 1987, 16,908 out of 20,278 (83%) adult patients were interviewed consecutively in 5 Massachusetts hospitals to obtain information on the three measures of socioe conomic status I mentioned earlier. They divided each measure into three strata, creating 15 comparisons. After excluding and adjusting the findings were that the patients of the lower socioeconomic status had stayed 3 to 30 percent longer than those of high status. The hospitals charges were 1 to 18 percent high for the patients of a lower status. When adjusted for age and how severe the illness was the results showed that those patients of the lower socioeconomic status had longer stays in 14 of 14 comparisons and higher charges 13 to 15 in comparison. The findings suggest that the patients of lower socioeconomic status have longer stays and require more of the hospitals resources. Over the few studies I have covered its seems as if the socioeconomic status of an individual or family plays out in many ways in life. Those of the lower status seem to have more health problems and financial issues as well. So being said that socioeconomic status affects your health physically and mentally, as well as effects the financial struggle your set with. Those of a higher status are able to take more care of themselves so they tend to have fewer issues unlike those of the lower socioeconomic status. It affects a large percentage of the world. A majority of the world population is affected by a low socioeconomic status creative more vulnerability to diseases creating more stay time in hospitals and costing themselves more in the long run. As well as adding other studies to the many different effects of ones socioeconomic status producing results both positive and negative based on whether you are of lower status or a higher status.