Aim: To examine the external validity of the Family Affluence Scale (FAS) among adolescents in Sweden by using register data for parental earned income, level of education and occupational status.
Methods: Data from the baseline (2015-2019) of the Study of Adolescence Resilience and Stress (STARS), comprising 2283 13-year-olds in the region of Västra Götaland, were used. The FAS III consists of six items: unshared bedroom, car ownership, computer/tablet ownership, dishwasher, number of bathrooms and number of holidays abroad. Register data regarding earned income, educational level and occupational status from Statistics Sweden (2014-2018) were linked to adolescents. In total, survey data were available for 2280 adolescents, and register data were available for 2258 mothers and 2204 fathers.
Results: Total parental earned income was moderately correlated with adolescents' scoring on FAS (0.31 < r < 0.48, p < 0.001), depending on examination year. The low FAS group mainly comprised low-income households, and the high FAS group mainly comprised high-income households. Correlations between mothers' and fathers' educational level and adolescents' scoring on FAS were low (r = 0.19 and r = 0.21, respectively, p < 0.001). FAS was higher among adolescents whose parents were working, but the correlation between parents' occupational status and FAS was low (r = 0.22, p < 0.001).
Conclusions: The FAS can mainly identify low- and high-income households in Sweden. It may be used as an alternative measure of parental earned income in studies using self-reported socioeconomic status among adolescents.
Keywords: Family affluence scale; HBSC; Register data; STARS; Sweden; Validation.
© 2021. The Author(s).