Heart Risk Linked to Women’s Social Self-Perception

Women with a lower subjective social status (SSS) were more likely to have an imaging marker of cardiac fibrosis, an early sign of heart stress linked to future disease risk, according to a recent study. However, this association was not found in men.

Previous research has linked lower SSS, defined as how people feel they rank compared with others in terms of social standing, with worse physical and mental health. Researchers conducted a cross-sectional study to investigate whether potential sex differences exist in the associations between SSS and cardiovascular disease (CVD).

The study included 443 participants aged 35 to 83 years; all were free of CVD. Participants completed a questionnaire ranking their social standing on a 10-rung ladder and underwent cardiac MRI to detect subclinical CVD progression.

Women who ranked their SSS lower showed more signs of potential inflammation and early scarring in the heart, even when their income and education matched those who ranked their status higher. Men who ranked their SSS lower than others with the same income and education did not show these warning signs.

Co-lead author Jean-Philippe Gouin, full professor of psychology at Concordia University, proposed two theories that could explain this finding.

“First, SSS may better reflect women’s real-life experiences than objective data on their socioeconomic status,” he said in a press release. “For example, even with the same education as men, women often earn less or face additional social pressures. So, their self-perception may capture those realities more accurately.”

The second theory is about psychological impact, he said. Women may feel they have fewer opportunities for upward mobility, which can lead to more stress.

The researchers plan to follow a larger group of participants over time to see whether these early markers predict heart disease.