Effects of Poverty, Perceived Discrimination, & Mastery on the health status of US adults 40-41 years of age.

This study examined the influence of poverty, perceived discrimination, and sense of mastery over one's life on the health status of US adults 40-41 years of age (N=969). It used data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, the 1979 Cohort. Subjects were 40-41 years old in 1998, the most recent year of data available at the time of the study. When controlling for a variety of social characteristics and personal attributes, only sense of mastery over one's life, measured by the Pearlin Mastery Scale, affected physical and mental health statuses. Perceived discrimination affected only mental health status. The number of years the study subjects reported that they lived in families whose income fell below official US poverty thresholds had no effect on either physical or mental health. Findings affirmed the efforts of professions like social work that stress self-determination and empowerment enabling individuals to enhance their own social functioning and improve conditions in their communities and in society at large. They also suggested that in regard to mental health advocacy efforts to decrease health disparities can find social justice related grounds based on gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]