Associations of relative deprivation and income rank with depressive symptoms among older adults in Japan.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Income is hypothesized to affect health not just through material pathways (i.e., the ability to purchase health-enhancing goods) but also through psychosocial pathways (e.g., social comparisons with others). Two concepts relevant to the psychosocial effects of income are: relative deprivation (for example expressed by the Yitzhaki Index, measuring the magnitude of difference in income among individuals) and Income Rank. This study examined whether higher relative deprivation and lower income rank are associated with depressive symptoms in an older population independently of absolute income.

Method

Using cross-sectional data of 83,100 participants (40,038 men and 43,062 women) in the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES), this study applied multiple log

SUBMITTER: Gero K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6064210 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature