Does Relative Deprivation in School During Adolescence Get Under the Skin? A Causal Mediation Analysis from the Life Course Perspective

This study examines that U.S. adolescents' relative deprivation in school (Deaton index) is associated with physiological health outcomes in young adulthood (aged 24-32) measured as allostatic load (AL). Using Waves 1, 2, and 4 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) in the U.S., this study finds that adolescents with higher relative deprivation are likely to have poorer physiological health (i.e., higher AL scores) in young adulthood, after appropriately adjusting for individual, familial, and school characteristics. The sensitivity analysis of sequential g-estimation models further increases our confidence in the results by assessing the robustness of the effects. Also, the relationship between students' relative deprivation and physiological health is stronger in socioeconomically advantaged schools than in disadvantaged schools. From the life course perspective, this study advances our understanding of whether and how stress from social standing gets under the skin and affects the quality of life in the long-term transition from adolescence to adulthood.