Siblings Who Believe Their Family Has A Lower Social Standing Are More Likely To Experience Mental Health Difficulties

This study might be the strongest evidence so far that this is the case. There is another possibility: the relationship between perceived status and well-being might actually run in reverse. Compared to the sibling with better mental well-being, an 18-year-old experiencing internal struggles might simply be constructing a different narrative about their family’s social status. As teenagers grow to become more attuned to social comparisons and hierarchies, they might be more likely to interpret their level of well-being — or lack thereof — through the lens of having a particular social standing. In the future, we can begin to figure out the arrow of causality by asking children about their perceptions more frequently over the course of their development. Regardless of the direction of this arrow, however, it is clear that social hierarchies are a fundamental part of the human psyche. Even if our perceived place in the pecking order merely reflects our well-being rather than actually causing it, this only reveals the fact that we assume our social position has such power. – Adolescents’ perceptions of family social status correlate with health and life chances: A twin difference longitudinal cohort study Post written by Sofia Deleniv for the BPS Research Digest. Sofia holds a degree in Experimental Psychology and has just completed her PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Oxford, where she investigated sensory processing using a mix of electrophysiology and...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Developmental Mental health Social Source Type: blogs