Racial and ethnic variation in socioeconomic differentials in young adult cardiovascular health

This paper examines whether the association between markers of socioeconomic status (SES) and cardiovascular health are weaker among Black and Hispanic young adults than White young adults. Estimates are derived from the Future of Families-Cardiovascular Health among Young Adults Study (FF-CHAYA), 2021-2023. Participants (N = 1421, average age 22.9) were sampled from the Future of Families Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) that collected data in 7 waves in 20 large US cities. We used regression models to explore the link between a 7-metric cardiovascular health score and 6 measures of SES at the individual, family, and neighborhood levels for White (N = 243), Black (N = 730) and Hispanic (N = 388) young adults. The estimated interaction terms between the socioeconomic measures and race/ethnicity reveal that socioeconomic differentials in the cardiovascular health score among Black and Hispanic young adults are significantly smaller than those for their White counterparts. The finding that returns to health with increasing education and economic wellbeing are lower among Black and Hispanic than White young adults is consistent with theories of exposure to discrimination.