Objective and Perceived SES in the Self-Reported Health of Lower Income Older Adults

Investigation of the links between stress and physical health is a continuing area of research, though many facets of the stress-health relationship remain unexplored, particularly in research investigating the role of chronic psychological stressors to health, such as low SES. Research has focused on assessing stress due to lower SES with more encompassing, objective measures such as income or occupation, however, this approach fails to account for the role of perceived SES in the health of older adults. In the few studies which have investigated perceived SES, the role of psychosocial resources has not yet been examined. In the present study, both objective and perceived measures of SES, as well as psychosocial resources, were examined in relation to the self-reported health of older adults. Perceived SES was found to relate to health not only directly, but also mediated by psychosocial resources and, lower perceived SES was found to contribute to the relationship lower objective SES to poorer health thereby suggesting a complex interplay of SES, perceived SES and perceived health and well-being.