German Centre of Gerontology.
Health Psychol. 2011 May;30(3):326-335. doi: 10.1037/a0022514.
This study examined whether socioeconomic status (SES) determines the degree to which psychological and social resources such as optimistic self-beliefs and social support affect health.
We used data from the representative German Ageing Survey (N = 2,454, aged 40-85 years). Structural equation modeling was employed to examine whether relationships between psychological (self-esteem, control beliefs, optimism) and social resources (perceived emotional and informational support, network size) and health differ between education and income groups.
Self-reported physical health, functional health, and subjective health.
Psychological resources positively affected health in all groups but were stronger predictors of functional and subjective health in low compared to higher educated participants. A higher level of social resources was associated with better functional and subjective health mainly in the low-income group. Social resources were particularly important for financially disadvantaged older people.
Our results provide evidence for differential effects of optimistic self-beliefs and social support on health depending on whether individuals are challenged by low incomes or low education. Future research, especially aimed at intervention, should consider that different aspects of SES have differential meanings and that the impact of health-protective factors may vary according to SES facet.
本研究旨在探讨社会经济地位（SES）是否决定了心理和社会资源（如乐观的自我信念和社会支持）对健康的影响程度。
我们使用了具有代表性的德国老龄化调查（N=2454 名年龄在 40-85 岁之间的参与者）的数据。结构方程模型被用来检验心理资源（自尊、控制信念、乐观）和社会资源（感知的情感和信息支持、网络规模）与健康之间的关系在教育和收入群体之间是否存在差异。
自我报告的身体健康、功能健康和主观健康。
心理资源对所有群体的健康都有积极影响，但在受教育程度较低的参与者中，对功能健康和主观健康的预测作用更强。较高水平的社会资源与功能健康和主观健康的改善有关，主要是在低收入群体中。社会资源对经济困难的老年人尤为重要。
我们的研究结果提供了证据表明，乐观的自我信念和社会支持对健康的影响取决于个体是否受到低收人和低教育水平的挑战。未来的研究，特别是针对干预措施的研究，应该考虑到 SES 的不同方面具有不同的意义，并且健康保护因素的影响可能因 SES 方面的不同而有所不同。
