TY - JOUR
T1 - When aspirations and achievements don't meet. A longitudinal examination of the differential effect of education and occupational attainment on declines in self-rated health among Canadian labour force participants
AU - Smith, Peter
AU - Frank, John
N1 - Funding Information:
1 Institute for Work and Health, Toronto, Canada. 2 Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Canada. 3Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Institute of Population and Public Health, Toronto, Canada. 4 Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Toronto, Canada. * Corresponding author. Institute for Work and Health, 481 University Avenue, Suite 800, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 2E9, Canada. E-mail: [email protected]
Copyright:
Copyright 2008 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2005/8
Y1 - 2005/8
N2 - Background: To examine the association of a mismatch between educational qualifications and occupational attainment and subsequent declines in self-rated health (SRH) in a longitudinal nationally representative Canadian population sample. Methods: This study used longitudinal data from 4045 healthy, working respondents of the Canadian National Population Health Survey. Respondents were categorized as either qualified, overqualified, or underqualified based on the match between their education and the skills required for their current occupation over a 2-year period. Logistic regression analysis estimated the odds of decline in SRH over the following 4-year period, using the match between occupation and education as the main independent variable. Analyses were controlled for a number of confounding variables including health behaviours, mental health, self-esteem, job control, and demographic information. Results: Relative to respondents with university education working in occupations for which they were qualified, respondents with university education, working in occupations for which they were overqualified had a significant risk of decline in SRH between 1996 and 2000, even after adjusting for a number of potential confounders (OR = 2.08, 95% CI 1.11-3.91). In respondents with secondary education or less, differences in occupational attainment were not associated with differences in the odds of decline in SRH. Conclusions: The effect of occupational attainment on health is important for individuals who have invested the most time in their education. Conversely, differential occupational attainment is not associated with differences in the odds of decline in health for participants with lower levels of education.
AB - Background: To examine the association of a mismatch between educational qualifications and occupational attainment and subsequent declines in self-rated health (SRH) in a longitudinal nationally representative Canadian population sample. Methods: This study used longitudinal data from 4045 healthy, working respondents of the Canadian National Population Health Survey. Respondents were categorized as either qualified, overqualified, or underqualified based on the match between their education and the skills required for their current occupation over a 2-year period. Logistic regression analysis estimated the odds of decline in SRH over the following 4-year period, using the match between occupation and education as the main independent variable. Analyses were controlled for a number of confounding variables including health behaviours, mental health, self-esteem, job control, and demographic information. Results: Relative to respondents with university education working in occupations for which they were qualified, respondents with university education, working in occupations for which they were overqualified had a significant risk of decline in SRH between 1996 and 2000, even after adjusting for a number of potential confounders (OR = 2.08, 95% CI 1.11-3.91). In respondents with secondary education or less, differences in occupational attainment were not associated with differences in the odds of decline in SRH. Conclusions: The effect of occupational attainment on health is important for individuals who have invested the most time in their education. Conversely, differential occupational attainment is not associated with differences in the odds of decline in health for participants with lower levels of education.
KW - Education
KW - Longitudinal
KW - National Population Health Survey
KW - Occupation
KW - Overqualified
KW - Self-rated health
KW - Socioeconomic status
KW - Status inconsistency
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=26444440996&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/ije/dyi047
DO - 10.1093/ije/dyi047
M3 - Article
C2 - 15802380
AN - SCOPUS:26444440996
SN - 0300-5771
VL - 34
SP - 827
EP - 834
JO - International Journal of Epidemiology
JF - International Journal of Epidemiology
IS - 4
ER -