ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To compare the subjective health of adolescents from families in receipt and not in receipt of social assistance. STUDY DESIGN: Nationwide cross-sectional study of 1812 pupils aged 13-18 years in Poland in 2010-2011. METHODS: The analysis focused on two dimensions of the Child Health and Illness Profile - Adolescent Edition questionnaire: discomfort and satisfaction with health. Age, sex and seven socio-economic factors were considered as determinants. RESULTS: Overall, 10.8% of the respondents reported that their families were in receipt of social welfare benefits. Among the families of low socio-economic status and living in poor regions, the percentage in receipt of social welfare benefits increased to 22.1%; however, this figure was lower (4.4%) if both parents had a higher level of education. After adjustment for six sociodemographic variables, the standardized regression coefficient of the social welfare benefits variable amounted to 0.072 (P = 0.004) in the discomfort model and -0.044 (P = 0.079) in the satisfaction model. A significant three-level interaction was found (P = 0.007) between residential location, neighbourhood affluence and being in receipt of social welfare benefits as predicators of discomfort score (general linear model). CONCLUSIONS: Being in receipt of social welfare benefits has a stronger impact on experiencing discomfort than diminishing satisfaction with one's health. It also has a stronger effect on physical problems than on emotional problems. The item 'on social assistance' is recommended as it helps to identify families particularly exposed to the health consequences of poverty.
