Expected or completed? Comparing two measures of education and their relationship with social inequalities in health among young adults
Article [Accepted Manuscript]
Is part of
Social indicators research ; vol. 135, no. 2, pp. 549-562.Publisher(s)
Springer VerlagAffiliation
Abstract(s)
Background. Similarly to other age groups, there are significant social inequalities in health among
young adults (YA). Education is thought to be the most appropriate indicator of YA socioeconomic
status (SES), yet it is often in progress at that age and may not be representative of future achievement.
Therefore, scholars have explored YA ‘expected’ education as a proxy of SES. However, no study has
examined how it compares to the more common SES indicator, ‘completed’ education.
Methods. Using data from 1,457 YA surveyed twice over a two year period, we describe associations
between participants’ completed and expected education at baseline and completed education at followup.
We then compare associations between these two measures and three health outcomes – smoking
status, self-rated mental health, and participation in physical activity and sports – at baseline and
follow-up using regression models.
Results. At baseline, half of the participants were imputed a higher ‘expected’ level than that
‘completed’ at that time. In regression models, ‘expected’ and ‘completed’ education were strongly
associated with all outcomes and performed slightly differently in terms of effect size, statistical
significance, and model fit.
Conclusions. ‘Expected’ education offers a good approximation of future achievement. More
importantly, ‘expected’ and ‘completed’ education variables can be conceptualized as complementary
indicators associated with inequalities in health in YA. Using both may help better understand social
inequalities in health in YA.
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