Schools and their components are designed to meet two goals: the socialization of students to internalize the values needed to play a useful role in society; and the allocation or sorting of students to prepare them to attain an occupational position in society commensurate with their capabilities.
Those whose mental component summary scores were below the 15th centile were proportionately more likely to be women, younger, less educated, not married, non-officers, to have an occupational position other than combat, health care or functional support (such as technical or electrical repair position), and to report current smoking and have a positive CAGE result.
Those whose physical component summary scores were below the 15th centile were proportionately more likely to be less educated, black non-Hispanic, non-officers, active duty, serving in the army, and to have an occupational position other than combat, health care or functional support (such as technical or electrical repair position).
We analysed all occupational position categories together and adjusted the models for occupational position since the occupational position interaction was not significant (P = 0.9).
A privileged family background helps one gain an advantageous occupational position in the social hierarchy.
For example, the correlation was greater in persons with a high occupational position (r = 0.37, 95% CI: 0.33, 0.41) than in those with a low occupational position (r = 0.29, 95% CI: 0.21, 0.38).
The large majority (over 80%) had been hired on a low occupational position, i.e., either as manual workers or clerks.
Upward occupational mobility was frequent, and as a result, only a minority (29.8% of participants with diabetes and 24.3% of those without diabetes) were still holding a low occupational position at 35 years.
Participants with a diagnosis of mental disorder were more likely to be female, young, not married/cohabiting, have a lower occupational position, to have lower income and educational levels, smokers, and alcohol abstainers (all P < 0.001).
For example, one recent study used retrospective information on employment histories to show that education (usually related to social position in early midlife) is associated with higher levels of labour market disadvantage throughout working life, in terms of involuntary job loss, unemployment and a disadvantaged occupational position (Dragano & Wahrendorf, 2014).
The analysis of the distribution of all covariates, metabolic syndrome, and the tests of cognition as a function of occupational position showed (supplemental Table A), on the one hand, that the lower the occupational position, the lower the cognitive scores and the higher the prevalence of persistent metabolic syndrome.
