Striving and thriving: Gender differences in the effects of climbing the socioeconomic ladder on stress and discrimination.

BACKGROUND

Recent evidence suggests upward socioeconomic mobility ("striving") may result in worse physical health. It has been hypothesized that striving might result in greater stress and discrimination, but prior observational evidence of this has been mixed.

METHODS

We analyzed data from The RISE UP study, a natural experimental study of 1270 low-income students in Los Angeles who were offered entrance to high-performing charter high schools via a random lottery. We compared lottery winners to those waitlisted, enabling objective assessment of striving with less confounding and selection bias. Self-reported stress using the Adolescent Stress Questionnaire and the Perceived Stress Scale and an abbreviated Everyday DiscriminationScale measuring lifetime discrimination were collected prospectively from adolescence into early adulthood.

RESULTS

During adolescence, perceived psychologic stress was greater among lottery winners than among the waitlist group but only among the females with little difference among males. During early adulthood, females exposed to high performing schools continued to report greater stress compared to waitlisted females. In contrast, among males, lottery winners reported lower stress compared to waitlisted subjects during this age period. No differences in perceived discrimination were observed between lottery winners and waitlisted students regardless of gender.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that the process of upward mobility may incur psychological costs, particularly for females. The study highlights the need for further inquiry into mechanisms underlying gender disparities in the health effects of striving, and underscores the complex interplay between socioeconomic mobility, stress, discrimination, and health.