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Table 2 Relative odds of a mental health problem a , by socioeconomic measure b

From: Socioeconomic disparities in the mental health of Indigenous children in Western Australia

Socioeconomic measure

Odds ratio: Model 1c

Adjusted odds ratio: Model 2c

Adjusted odds ratio: Model 3c

Adjusted odds ratio: Model 4c

Education: primary carer

    

 13 or more years

1.00

   

 Years 11–12

1.37

—

—

—

 Year 10

1.16

   

 Year 9 or lessd

1.81

   

Occupatione

    

 Managers/professionals

1.10

1.08

1.07

0.96

 Tradespersons, clerical

    

 workers and labourers

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

 Not employed

1.94***

1.91***

1.64**

1.17

Family financial strain

    

 Can save a lot

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

 Can save a bit

1.75*

1.86**

1.95**

1.56

 Some left over but spend it

1.61

1.72*

1.80*

1.25

 Just enough to get by

1.79**

1.89**

1.90**

1.23

 Spending more than we get

2.70***

2.72***

2.54***

1.34

Housing tenure

    

 Owned or being paid off

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

 Renting

1.93***

1.90***

1.83***

1.54***

 Other

2.60***

2.55***

2.48***

1.78*

Number of indicators of poor housing quality

    

 None

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

 One

1.82**

1.78**

1.52

1.36

 Two

2.24***

2.18***

2.02**

1.88**

 Three or more

3.13***

2.93***

2.66***

2.80***

SEIFA (quintiles)f

    

 Top (more advantaged)

1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00

 Third and fourth

4.81**

4.89**

5.83**

4.43*

 First and second (less advantaged)

5.69**

5.91**

6.71**

4.68**

IRISEO (quintiles)g

    

 Top (more advantaged)

1.00

   

 Fourth

1.82

   

 Third

1.04

—

—

—

 Second

1.58

   

 First (less advantaged)

0.91

   
  1. Notes: *p < 0.1; **p < 0.05; ***p < 0.01; p values are calculated using chi-square tests adjusted for the complex sample design.
  2. a High risk of clinically significant emotional or behavioural difficulties (CSEBD).
  3. b Results are derived from multivariate logistic regression models using a multilevel framework. Results for each SES variable represents a separate model.
  4. c All models include age, sex, Level of Relative Isolation (LORI) and the socioeconomic variable of interest. Model 2 also includes child physical health factors (whether child had runny ears, whether child had normal vision in both eyes, whether child had difficulty saying certain sounds). Model 3 further adds factors related to the physical and mental health of the carer (whether primary carer had a medical condition for 6 months or longer, whether the primary carer had used Mental Health Services). Model 4 further adds factors related to the circumstances of the family and household (quality of parenting, life stress events, family composition, overcrowding, number of homes the child had lived in, whether bothered by racism in the neighbourhood/community, and family functioning). Successive steps were conducted if the socioeconomic variable achieved marginal statistical significance (p < 0.1).
  5. d Includes those who had not attended an educational institution.
  6. e Highest occupational class of primary and secondary carers. Occupation categories have been dichotomised based on skill levels defined in the Australian Standard Classification of Occupations, second edition. ‘Managers and professionals’ include occupational skill levels 1 & 2. ‘Tradespersons, clerical workers and labourers’ include occupational skill levels 3–5.
  7. f Customised version of the index of relative socioeconomic disadvantage that forms part of the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Socioeconomic Index for Areas (SEIFA) product. Percentiles were determined based on the distribution of values for all Australian CDs.
  8. g Biddle’s Index of Relative Indigenous Socioeconomic Outcomes. The index was derived using the characteristics of Aboriginal persons only and quintiles were determined based on the distribution of values for all Australian Indigenous Areas.
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BMC Public Health

ISSN: 1471-2458

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