A multivariate analysis of the association between social class of origin and current social class with self-rated general health and psychological health among 16-year-old Australians

Background: A recent review of international literature concludes that ther e is a relative absence of social class differentials in health in early yo uth. There is an absence of Australian studies on the effect of social clas s on the health of this age group. Aims: To examine the association between social class and health among 16-y ear-old Australians. Methods: The data on 1048 16-year-olds came from the fifth wave (1993) of t he Australian Youth Survey conducted by the former Department of Employment , Education and Training. Outcome measures were self-rated general health a nd psychological health (GHQ-12). Binary logistic regression was used to an alyse data. Results: Neither social class of origin nor current social class was associ ated with self-rated general health or psychological health. Conclusion: The argument that social class inequalities in health exist in childhood, disappear during early youth, and reappear later appears to hold ground within the Australian context.