Is subjective social status a summary of life-course socioeconomic position?

Very little is known about the association between objective indicators of socioeconomic position in childhood and adolescence and low subjective social status in adult life, after adjusting for adult socioeconomic position. We used baseline data (2008-2010) from the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil), a multicenter cohort study of 15,105 civil servants from six Brazilian states. Subjective social status was measured using the The MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Status, which represents social hierarchy in the form of a 10-rung ladder with the top rung representing the highest subjective social status. Participants who chose the bottom four rungs in the ladder were assigned to the low subjective social status category. The following socioeconomic position indicators were investigated: childhood (maternal education), adolescence (occupational social class of the household head; participant's occupational social class of first job; nature of occupation of household head; participant's nature of occupation of first job), and adulthood (participant's occupational social class, nature of occupation and education). The associations between low subjective social status and socioeconomic position were determined using multiple logistic regression, after adjusting for sociodemographic factors and socioeconomic position indicators from other stages of life. After adjustments, low socioeconomic position in childhood, adolescence and adulthood remained significantly associated with low subjective social status in adulthood with dose-response gradients. The magnitude of these associations was stronger for intra-individual than for intergenerational socioeconomic positions. Results suggest that subjective social status in adulthood is the result of a complex developmental process of acquiring socioeconomic self-perception, which is intrinsic to subjective social status and includes current and past, individual and family household experiences.

Concurrent and face validity of the MacArthur scale for assessing subjective social status: Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil). / Validade Concorrente e de Face da Escala de MacArthur para Avaliação do Status Social Subjetivo: Estudo Longitudinal de Saúde do Adulto (ELSA-Brasil).

This work assessed the concurrent and face validity of the MacArthur scale, which attempts to capture subjective social status in society, neighborhood and work contexts. The study population comprised a convenience sample made up of 159 adult participants of the ELSA-Brasil cohort study conducted in Minas Gerais between 2012 and 2014. The analysis was conducted drawing on Conceptual Metaphor Theory and using corpus linguistic methods. Concurrent validity was shown to be moderate for the society ladder (Kappaw = 0.55) and good for the neighborhood (Kappaw = 0.60) and work (Kappaw = 0,67) ladders. Face validity indicated that the MacArthur scale really captures subjective social status across indicators of socioeconomic position, thus confirming that it is a valuable tool for the study of social inequalities in health Brazil.

Validade Concorrente e de Face da Escala de MacArthur para Avaliação do Status Social Subjetivo: Estudo Longitudinal de Saúde do Adulto (ELSA-Brasil) / Concurrent and face validity of the MacArthur scale for assessing subjective social status: Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil)

Resumo Este trabalho avaliou a validade concorrente e de face da escala de MacArthur, que busca aferir o status social subjetivo (SSS) na sociedade, na vizinhança e no trabalho. A amostra de 159 adultos, participantes da coorte ELSA-Brasil, em Minas Gerais (2012-2014), foi selecionada e a análise incluiu métodos epidemiológicos, a teoria cognitiva da metáfora e a linguística de corpus. A validade concorrente foi moderada para a escada da sociedade (kappaw = 0,55) e boa para a vizinhança (kappaw = 0,60) e do trabalho (kappaw = 0,67). A validade de face da escala de MacArthur mostrou que o instrumento realmente captura o SSS por meio dos indicadores de posição socioeconômica. Portanto, a escala de MacArthur demonstra ser um valioso instrumento para estudar as desigualdades sociais em saúde

Abstract This work assessed the concurrent and face validity of the MacArthur scale, which attempts to capture subjective social status in society, neighborhood and work contexts. The study population comprised a convenience sample made up of 159 adult participants of the ELSA-Brasil cohort study conducted in Minas Gerais between 2012 and 2014. The analysis was conducted drawing on Conceptual Metaphor Theory and using corpus linguistic methods. Concurrent validity was shown to be moderate for the society ladder (Kappaw = 0.55) and good for the neighborhood (Kappaw = 0.60) and work (Kappaw = 0,67) ladders. Face validity indicated that the MacArthur scale really captures subjective social status across indicators of socioeconomic position, thus confirming that it is a valuable tool for the study of social inequalities in health Brazil.

Is subjective social status a summary of life-course socioeconomic position? / O status social subjetivo é uma medida sumária da posição socioeconômica ao longo da vida? / ¿Es el estatus social subjetivo una medida sumaria de la posición socioeconómico a lo largo de la vida?

Very little is known about the association between objective indicators of socioeconomic position in childhood and adolescence and low subjective social status in adult life, after adjusting for adult socioeconomic position. We used baseline data (2008-2010) from the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil), a multicenter cohort study of 15,105 civil servants from six Brazilian states. Subjective social status was measured using the The MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Status, which represents social hierarchy in the form of a 10-rung ladder with the top rung representing the highest subjective social status. Participants who chose the bottom four rungs in the ladder were assigned to the low subjective social status category. The following socioeconomic position indicators were investigated: childhood (maternal education), adolescence (occupational social class of the household head; participant's occupational social class of first job; nature of occupation of household head; participant's nature of occupation of first job), and adulthood (participant's occupational social class, nature of occupation and education). The associations between low subjective social status and socioeconomic position were determined using multiple logistic regression, after adjusting for sociodemographic factors and socioeconomic position indicators from other stages of life. After adjustments, low socioeconomic position in childhood, adolescence and adulthood remained significantly associated with low subjective social status in adulthood with dose-response gradients. The magnitude of these associations was stronger for intra-individual than for intergenerational socioeconomic positions. Results suggest that subjective social status in adulthood is the result of a complex developmental process of acquiring socioeconomic self-perception, which is intrinsic to subjective social status and includes current and past, individual and family household experiences.

Pouco se sabe sobre a associação entre indicadores de posição socioeconômica na infância e adolescência e baixo status social subjetivo na idade adulta, depois de ajustar para posição socioeconômica na idade adulta. Usamos dados de linha de base (2008-2010) do Estudo Longitudinal de Saúde do Adulto (ELSA-Brasil), um estudo de coorte multicêntrico de 15.105 servidores públicos de seis estados brasileiros. O status social subjetivo foi medido com a Escala de MacArthur do Status Social Subjetivo, que representa a hierarquia social como uma escada de 10 degraus, onde o degrau mais alto representa o status social subjetivo mais alto. Os participantes que escolheram os quatro degraus inferiores foram alocados à categoria de status social subjetivo baixo. Foram investigados os seguintes indicadores de posição socioeconômica: infância (escolaridade materna), adolescência (classe social ocupacional do chefe de família; classe social ocupacional do participante no primeiro emprego; natureza da ocupação do chefe de família; natureza da ocupação do participante no primeiro emprego) e vida adulta (classe social ocupacional, natureza da ocupação e escolaridade do participante). A regressão logística múltipla foi usada para estimar as associações entre status social subjetivo baixo e posição socioeconômica, depois de ajustar para fatores sociodemográficos e indicadores de posição socioeconômica em outras fases da vida. Depois dos ajustes, os indicadores de posição socioeconômica baixa na infância, adolescência e idade adulta permaneceram associados significativamente com status social subjetivo baixo na idade adulta, com gradientes dose-resposta. A magnitude dessas associações foi maior para a posição socioeconômica intra-indivíduo do que para a posição socioeconômica intergeracional. Os achados indicam que o status social subjetivo na idade adulta resulta de um processo complexo de desenvolvimento da auto-percepção socioeconômica, intrínseco ao status social subjetivo e que inclui experiências atuais e passadas, individuais e familiares.

Se sabe muy poco sobre la asociación entre los indicadores objetivos de la posición socioeconómica durante la infancia y adolescencia y el bajo estatus social subjetivo en la etapa adulta, después de ajustar por la posición socioeconómica para adultos. Se usaron datos de la línea de base (2008-2010) del Estudio Longitudinal de Salud en Adultos (ELSA-Brasil), un estudio de cohorte multicéntrico con 15.105 empleados públicos, procedentes de seis estados brasileños. El estatus social subjetivo se midió usando la Escala de MacArthur del Estatus Social Subjetivo, que representa la jerarquía social como una escalera con 10 peldaños, donde el peldaño superior representa el estatus social subjetivo más alto. Los participantes que eligieron los cuatro escalones inferiores de la escalera fueron asignados a la categoría baja de estatus social subjetivo. Se investigaron los siguientes indicadores del contexto socioeconómico: infancia (educación materna), adolescencia (clase social ocupacional del cabeza de familia; la clase social ocupacional del primer trabajo de los participantes; naturaleza de la ocupación del cabeza de familia; naturaleza de la ocupación del primer trabajo de los participantes), y etapa adulta (clase social ocupacional de los participantes, naturaleza de la ocupación y educación). Las asociaciones entre un bajo estatus social subjetivo y el contexto socioeconómico se determinaron usando regresión múltiple logística, tras ajustarla para factores sociodemográficos e indicadores de la posición socioeconómica de otras fases de la vida. Tras los ajustes, un bajo contexto socioeconómico en la infancia, adolescencia y etapa adulta permaneció significativamente asociado con un bajo estatus social subjetivo en la etapa adulta con gradientes dosis-respuesta. La magnitud de estas asociaciones fue más fuerte para posición socioeconómico intra-individual que para el intergeneracional. Los resultados sugieren que el estatus social subjetivo en la etapa adulta es el resultado de un complejo proceso de desarrollo, donde se adquiere una autopercepción socioeconómica, que es intrínseca al estatus social subjetivo e incluye presente y pasado, así como experiencias individuales y familiares en el hogar.

Escala de Macarthur de status social subjetivo: validade e associação com indicadores de posição socioeconômica no curso de vida - estudo longitudinal de saúde do adulto (ELSA-BRASIL) / Escala de Macarthur de status social subjetivo: validade e associação com indicadores de posição socioeconômica no curso de vida - estudo longitudinal de saúde do adulto (ELSA-BRASIL)

INTRODUCTION: The MacArthur scale of subjective social status (SSS), which combines verbal instruction and an image of a 10-steps ladder, aims to capture the common sense perception that an individual has about his/her own position in social hierarchies, in three different contexts: society, community and work. OBJECTIVE: To conduct a concurrent and face validity analysis of the MacArthur scale (Paper 1) and to investigate whether individuals who perceive themselves as having a low SSS in adult life, in the society context, were more exposed to low objective socioeconomic positions (SEP) in childhood and youth, after adjusting for current SEP. METHODS: The article 1 included 159 participants from the Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil), from Minas Gerais Investigating Center, selected by convenience during the 2nd wave of interviews and examinations between 11/2012 and 02/2014. The MacArthur scale was compared with a Status scale, created for this study based on the cognitive metaphor theory, which used the same image of a ladder as an indicator of the status and a very similar but more direct instruction. The concurrent validity was examined by comparing the answers to both scales (MacArthur and Status) using weighted kappa statistics. The face validity was assessed by qualitative methods from corpus linguistics. Ordinal logistic regression was used to investigate whether sociodemographic factors were associated with differences of 1, or 2 or more steps in the choices made using the MacArthur and the Status ladders. In the paper 2, 15.105 participants from the base line of ELSA-Brasil (2008-2010) were included. Low SSS was in the society was defined by the choice of a step lower than 5 out of 10. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to investigate whether exposures to low objective indicators of SEP in the childhood (maternal education), youth (occupational social class of the household head; occupational social class of the first job; nature of occupation of household head; nature of occupation in the first job) and adult life (current occupational social class; current nature of occupation; current education) increased the chances of being at low SSS. RESULTS: Agreement between the answers to the MacArthur and Status scales moderated in the society context (kw=0,55) and good in the community (kw=0,60) and work (kw=0,67). Face validity analysis showed that MacArthur scale captures beyond the classic socioeconomic indicators, encompassing elements from collective health, as home, transport, health, leisure, merit etc. Although individuals without college education (in the society context) and women (in the community ambience) had greater chances of differing by 1, or 2 or more steps from those with college education or who were women, qualitative differences were not identified by the corpus linguistics, suggesting that the MacArthur scale has good face validity. In paper 2, after adjustments, low SSS in adult life remained statistically associated with low SEP in all stages of the life course, being the magnitude of the associations strong in adult life, moderate in youth and weak in childhood, showing dose response gradients in all associations. CONCLUSION: The MacArthur scale seems to be a valid instrument to measure the SSS in the Brazilian sociocultural context, thus they can be used in studies of social inequality in health. In addition, results suggest that the scale may capture a summary of exposures and experiences of present and past SEP, both intra and intergenerational, allowing to expand the interpretations of findings of health inequalities based on the MacArthur scale.

INTRODUCTION: The MacArthur scale of subjective social status (SSS), which combines verbal instruction and an image of a 10-steps ladder, aims to capture the common sense perception that an individual has about his/her own position in social hierarchies, in three different contexts: society, community and work. OBJECTIVE: To conduct a concurrent and face validity analysis of the MacArthur scale (Paper 1) and to investigate whether individuals who perceive themselves as having a low SSS in adult life, in the society context, were more exposed to low objective socioeconomic positions (SEP) in childhood and youth, after adjusting for current SEP. METHODS: The article 1 included 159 participants from the Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil), from Minas Gerais Investigating Center, selected by convenience during the 2nd wave of interviews and examinations between 11/2012 and 02/2014. The MacArthur scale was compared with a Status scale, created for this study based on the cognitive metaphor theory, which used the same image of a ladder as an indicator of the status and a very similar but more direct instruction. The concurrent validity was examined by comparing the answers to both scales (MacArthur and Status) using weighted kappa statistics. The face validity was assessed by qualitative methods from corpus linguistics. Ordinal logistic regression was used to investigate whether sociodemographic factors were associated with differences of 1, or 2 or more steps in the choices made using the MacArthur and the Status ladders. In the paper 2, 15.105 participants from the base line of ELSA-Brasil (2008-2010) were included. Low SSS was in the society was defined by the choice of a step lower than 5 out of 10. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to investigate whether exposures to low objective indicators of SEP in the childhood (maternal education), youth (occupational social class of the household head; occupational social class of the first job; nature of occupation of household head; nature of occupation in the first job) and adult life (current occupational social class; current nature of occupation; current education) increased the chances of being at low SSS. RESULTS: Agreement between the answers to the MacArthur and Status scales moderated in the society context (kw=0,55) and good in the community (kw=0,60) and work (kw=0,67). Face validity analysis showed that MacArthur scale captures beyond the classic socioeconomic indicators, encompassing elements from collective health, as home, transport, health, leisure, merit etc. Although individuals without college education (in the society context) and women (in the community ambience) had greater chances of differing by 1, or 2 or more steps from those with college education or who were women, qualitative differences were not identified by the corpus linguistics, suggesting that the MacArthur scale has good face validity. In paper 2, after adjustments, low SSS in adult life remained statistically associated with low SEP in all stages of the life course, being the magnitude of the associations strong in adult life, moderate in youth and weak in childhood, showing dose response gradients in all associations. CONCLUSION: The MacArthur scale seems to be a valid instrument to measure the SSS in the Brazilian sociocultural context, thus they can be used in studies of social inequality in health. In addition, results suggest that the scale may capture a summary of exposures and experiences of present and past SEP, both intra and intergenerational, allowing to expand the interpretations of findings of health inequalities based on the MacArthur scale.

A estrutura sintática e semântica dos delírios de perseguição e de referência na esquizofrenia paranóide: um estudo de caso / The syntactic and semantic structuresof persecution delirium and reference in paranoid schizophrenia: a case study

O objetivo deste trabalho foi analisar o discurso delirante de um portador de esquizofrenia paranóide, buscando caracterizar a estrutura sintática e semântica dos delírios de perseguição e de referência, que são característicos nesse subtipo de esquizofrenia. Tendo em vista que a linguagem reflete, pelo menos em partes, a estrutura e o funcionamento do sistema conceptual, o discurso delirante do participante foi gravado e transcrito para análise de corpus. Utilizando-se como referencial teórico as teorias da metáfora cognitiva e da mesclagem conceptual, foi possível compreender não somente os delírios de referência e de perseguição, mas também as alucinações auditivas e as interpretações delirantes. Apesar de não ter sido encontrado comprometimento na estrutura sintática (na relação entre sujeito, verbo e complemento), foi possível identificar uma recorrente ambiguidade semântica nos processos de referenciação. Esses achados, nesse primeiro momento, parecem ser característicos da esquizofrenia paranóide, uma vez que esse subtipo de esquizofrenia apresenta menor comprometimento da personalidade e da inteligência.

A estrutura sintática e semântica dos delírios de perseguição e de referência na esquizofrenia paranóide: um estudo de caso / The syntactic and semantic structuresof persecution delirium and reference in paranoid schizophrenia: a case study

O objetivo deste trabalho foi analisar o discurso delirante de um portador de esquizofrenia paranóide, buscando caracterizar a estrutura sintática e semântica dos delírios de perseguição e de referência, que são característicos nesse subtipo de esquizofrenia. Tendo em vista que a linguagem reflete, pelo menos em partes, a estrutura e o funcionamento do sistema conceptual, o discurso delirante do participante foi gravado e transcrito para análise de corpus. Utilizando-se como referencial teórico as teorias da metáfora cognitiva e da mesclagem conceptual, foi possível compreender não somente os delírios de referência e de perseguição, mas também as alucinações auditivas e as interpretações delirantes. Apesar de não ter sido encontrado comprometimento na estrutura sintática (na relação entre sujeito, verbo e complemento), foi possível identificar uma recorrente ambiguidade semântica nos processos de referenciação. Esses achados, nesse primeiro momento, parecem ser característicos da esquizofrenia paranóide, uma vez que esse subtipo de esquizofrenia apresenta menor comprometimento da personalidade e da inteligência.