Subjective socioeconomic status (SSS) has been related to adverse mental
and physical health outcomes in adults, but little is known about its
correlates in adolescence. The present study examines how SSS is associated
with social anxiety, loneliness, and somatic symptoms in middle school, and
explores whether negative social cognitions (self-blame) moderate these
associations. Relying on a large, ethnically diverse sample of 6th grade
participants (*N* = 5,991), students indicated their SSS on a ladder
ranging from 1 to 12 and responded to self-reports of social anxiety,
loneliness, and somatic symptoms. A hypothetical vignette involving peer
mistreatment was used to assess tendency to self-blame. Consistent with the
hypotheses, the regression analyses indicated that adolescents who report
lower SSS experience worse social-emotional (but not health) outcomes when
they tend to blame themselves for peer mistreatment.
