Observational cohort study of US adults followed from baseline in 2008 to follow-up in 2016–2018.

Both socioeconomic status (SES) and subjective social status (SSS) predicted increased depressive symptoms and suicidality.

Associations were evident in cross-sectional and prospective models.

SSS accounted for 27 % of the link between SES and depressive symptoms and 44 % of the link between SES and suicidality.

Findings suggest perceptions of status may explain why low SES predicts the development of depression and suicidality.

Low socioeconomic status (SES) confers access to material resources and social standing and is an established risk factor of both depressive symptoms and suicidality. Subjective social status (SSS) assesses how people perceive their position within the social hierarchy and has been proposed to impact mental health. This study examined the relationship between SES and depressive symptoms and suicidality and tested whether SSS mediated these associations.

This study drew on publicly available survey data from the US National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). Participants were surveyed at baseline in 2008 (N = 4948; aged 28.8 years) and at followed up in 2016–2018 (N = 3509; aged 37.8 years). SES was gauged using personal and household income, assets, education, and job prestige. SSS was assessed using the MacArthur Scale. Depressive symptoms were assessed using four-items from the Centre for Epidemiological Studies Scale of Depression (CESD) and participants reported suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in the past year.

Both low SES and SSS were associated with elevated levels of depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts in cross-sectional and prospective analyses. SSS explained 27 % of the association between SES and depressive symptoms, 51 % of the relationship between SES and suicidal ideation, and 37 % of the link between SES and suicide attempts on average.

These findings contribute to understanding the long-term effects of SSS and suggest that perceptions of status may be a key mechanism through which low SES forecasts the development of depressive symptoms and suicidality.

Social status

Social comparison

Depression

Mental health

Suicidality

The research data are distributed by the Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research and available at: https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/ICPSR/studies/21600/datadocumentation#

© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.