The social gradient in adolescent mental health: mediated or moderated by belief in a just world?

Abstract

Purpose A social gradient in adolescent mental health exists: adolescents with higher socioeconomic status (SES) have fewer mental health problems than their peers with lower SES. Little is known about whether adolescents’ societal beliefs play a role in this social gradient. Belief in a just world (BJW) may be a mediator or moderator of the social gradient in adolescent mental health. Methods Using data from 848 adolescents (Mage = 17) in the Netherlands, path analyses examined whether two indicators of BJW (general and personal) mediated or moderated the associations between two indicators of SES (family affluence and perceived family wealth), and four indicators of adolescent mental health problems (emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity, and peer problems). Results Adolescents with lower family affluence and lower perceived family wealth reported more emotional symptoms, and the association between perceived family wealth and emotional symptoms was mediated by lower personal and general BJW. Furthermore, higher personal BJW amplified the negative association between SES and peer problems. Conclusion This study suggests BJW may both mediate and amplify the social gradient in adolescent mental health. Adolescents’ beliefs about society may be important to include in research aimed at understanding this social gradient.

The Mediating Role of Chinese College Students’ Control Strategies: Belief in a Just World and Life History Strategy

“…Life history theory states that individuals who live in a hostile environment in early childhood are more likely to adopt a faster LHS ( Ellis et al, 2009 ). Whereas factors in harsh environments (e.g., lower family SES, experiences of childhood trauma, and abuse experiences) can shape individuals’ lower BJW, and childhood BJW is highly correlated with adult BJW ( Wickham and Bentall, 2016 ; Thomas and Rodrigues, 2020 ; Wang et al, 2021 ; Weinberg et al, 2021 ). We hypothesized that BJW could serve as a surrogate reflection of adverse environmental effects and could predict fast and slow LHS tendencies by it.…”

“…It is also consistent with previous studies ( Meng et al, 2019 ) and with previous research on BJW as a personal view of the degree of justice in the world promoting the pursuit and achievement of individuals’ long-term goals related to behavioral characteristics of slow life history strategies ( Meng et al, 2019 ). BJW, a potential cognitive factor that can develop in early childhood and continue into adulthood ( Lerner and Miller, 1978 ; Hafer and Rubel, 2015 ), is influenced by childhood environmental factors ( Wickham and Bentall, 2016 ; Thomas and Rodrigues, 2020 ; Wang et al, 2021 ; Weinberg et al, 2021 ). The higher the individual’s BJW, the more it can proxy for a relatively stable childhood environment in which the individual’s BJW is developed, the more beneficial experiences during childhood about how long-term inputs in life will be duly rewarded, and the more inclined to delay gratification and establish a good “personal contract,” allowing individuals to develop a slower LHS tendency to focus more on somatic effort and long-term rewards.…”

“…It is also regarded as a personal trait that facilitates individuals to weigh the pursuit and achievement of long-term goals ( Hafer et al, 2005 ). In terms of the relationship between harshness and unpredictability and BJW specifically, lower family SES predicts lower BJW in individuals, because children and adolescents growing up with lower family SES are more likely to be victims of various injustices, or they may perceive society as more unjust and more likely to develop the perception that they are not being treated fairly ( Thomas and Rodrigues, 2020 ; Wang et al, 2021 ; Weinberg et al, 2021 ). The reason for this is that children with lower family SES face greater adversity and life instability and are not treated exactly the same as children with higher family SES ( Bradley and Corwyn, 2002 ).…”

A dark lens or a dark world? Conceptualising Justice Capital

“…In these cases, Justice Capital could be investigated as a moderator. Many recently published articles have also explored the mediating role of BJW, such as how it mediates between hardships and outlook on the future (Li, 2020), SES and mental health (Weinberg et al, 2020), or subjective social class and distrust (Yu et al, 2020). These kinds of mediation models could be revealing the mechanism of how hardships negatively affect psychological outcomes: by diminishing Justice Capital.…”

Another day to die: stories from the silent pandemic

“…When reading through this well compiled 5th issue of the 32nd volume of European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry , the work by Weinberg et al [ 2 ] discussing the “ fundamental need to believe the world is fair ” stuck with me for a while. Clicking my way through the internet I learned about the just-world fallacy and early research on how we (as humans) rationalize the suffering of others.…”