A pilot cross-sectional investigation of chronic shame as a mediator of the relationship between subjective social status and self-rated health among middle-aged adults

Figures & data

Table 1. Participant characteristics.

Variable	M (sd)	% (n)
Age (years)	37.5 (6.9)	–
Gender
Men (=1)	–	53.5 (107)
Women (=2)	–	45 (90)
Non-binary (=3)	–	1.5 (3)
Ethnicity
White	–	82.5 (165)
Latinx	–	6.5 (13)
Asian	–	4.5 (9)
Black	–	4 (8)
Another	–	2.5 (5)
Ethnicity (binary)
White (=0)	–	82.5 (165)
Not white (=1)	–	17.5 (35)
Annual income
Less than $25,000 (=1)	–	11.5 (23)
$25,000–49,999 (=2)	–	40.5 (81)
$50,000–79,999 (=3)	–	48 (96)
Highest education completed
High school (=1)	–	26.5 (53)
Community college degree (=2)	–	21 (42)
College degree (=3)	–	52.5 (105)
Employment
Blue collar (service) (=1)	–	15 (30)
Clerical (administrative) (=2)	–	36 (72)
White collar (professional) (=3)		49 (98)

n = 200.

Table 2. Correlation and unadjusted regression analyses between subjective social status (SSS), chronic shame, and self-rated health (SRH).

Predictor variable	Outcome variable	Correlation (r)	Regression
National SSS	SRH	.29***	F = 18.7***
			$\text{β}$ = .29 (.16, .43)***
Community SSS	SRH	.27***	F = 15.6***
			$\text{β}$ = .27 (.14, .41)***
National SSS	Chronic shame	−.37***	F = 31.9***
			$\text{β}$ = −.37 (−.50, −.24)***
Community SSS	Chronic shame	−.43***	F = 44.5***
			$\text{β}$ = −.43 (−.56, −.30)***
Chronic shame	SRH	−.33***	F = 24.9***
			$\text{β}$ = −.33 (−.47, −.20)***

Numbers in brackets represent standardized beta confidence intervals.

* p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p < .001. n = 200.

Figure 1. Depiction of the relationship between subjective social status (SSS) and self-rated health (SRH) mediated by chronic shame (Panel A: national SSS; Panel B: community SSS). Model controls for age, gender, ethnicity, employment, education, income, drug addiction, cigarette use, alcohol use, illicit drug use, leisure time physical activity, number of health conditions, and current negative affect. Chronic shame explained a significant portion of the relationship between each of the SSS variables and SRH. These results did not change when chronic negative affect was added to the model as a covariate. Numbers represent standardized beta coefficients (95% confidence intervals obtained through bootstrapping). *p<.05. ***p<.001. n=200.

A diagram showing the strength of associations in numbers between national and community subjective social status, self-rated health, and chronic shame.

Table 3. Regression analyses investigating chronic shame as a mediator of the relationship between national subjective social status (SSS) and self-rated health (SRH).

Predictor variables	SRH ($\text{β}$)
Unadjusted for chronic shame
Overall model	F = 3.61***
National SSS	.16 (.02, .31)*
Current negative affect	−.20 (−.33, −.06)**
Number of health conditions	−.12 (−.26, .02)
LTPA	.16 (.03, .29)*
Illicit drug use	.06 (−.10, .23)
Alcohol use	−.06 (−.19, .07)
Cigarette use	−.02 (−.16, .12)
Drug addiction	−.01 (−.16, .15)
Income	.19 (.04, .34)*
Education	>.01 (−.14, .14)
Employment	>−.01 (−.14, .13)
Ethnicity	−.02 (−.15, .11)
Gender	−.07 (−.20, .06)
Age	−.05 (−.19, .09)
Adjusted for chronic shame
Overall model	F = 3.84***
National SSS	.12 (−.03, .26)
Chronic shame	−.20 (−.37, −.04)*
Current negative affect	−.10 (−.26, .05)
Number of health conditions	−.12 (−.26, .02)
LTPA	.16 (.03, .29)*
Illicit drug use	.07 (−.09, .23)
Alcohol use	−.06 (−.19, .07)
Cigarette use	−.02 (−.16, .12)
Drug addiction	−.01 (−.16, .15)
Income	.16 (.01, .31)*
Education	.01 (−.13, .15)
Employment	−.02 (−.15, .12)
Ethnicity	−.01 (−.14, .12)
Gender	−.07 (−.20, .06)
Age	−.07 (−.21, .07)

Numbers represent standardized beta coefficients ($\text{β}$) and standardized beta confidence intervals. Models with community SSS instead of national SSS can be found in supplementary table 3.

LTPA=leisure time physical activity.

* p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p < .001. n = 200.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.