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Parental Educational Attainment and Chronic Medical Conditions among American Youth; Minorities' Diminished Returns.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Parental educational attainment is protective against chronic medical conditions (CMCs). According to the minorities' diminished returns (MDRs) theory, however, the health effects of socioeconomic status (SES) indicators are smaller for socially marginalized groups such as racial and ethnic minorities rather than Whites. AIMS:To explore racial and ethnic differences in the effect of parental educational attainment on CMCs in a nationally representative sample of American youth. METHODS:In this cross-sectional study, we used baseline data of 10,701 12-17 years old youth in the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH; 2013). Parental educational attainment was the independent variable. The dependent variable was the number of CMCs in youth. Age, gender, and family structure were covariates. Race and ethnicity were the focal moderators. Linear and multinomial regression were applied to analyze the data. RESULTS:Overall, higher parental educational attainment was associated with a lower number of CMCs. Race and ethnicity, however, showed significant interactions with parental educational attainment on a number of CMCs as well as 2+ CMCs, suggesting that the effect of parenting educational attainment on CMCs is significantly smaller for Black and Hispanic than White youth. CONCLUSIONS:In the United States, race and ethnicity alter the health gains that are expected to follow parental educational attainment. While White youth who are from highly educated families are most healthy, Black and Hispanic youth from highly educated families remain at higher risk for CMCs. That means, while the most socially privileged group, Whites, gain the most health from their parental education, Blacks and Hispanics, the least privileged groups, gain the least. The result is a disproportionately high number of CMCs in middle-class Blacks and Hispanics. Economic, social, public, and health policy makers should be aware that health disparities are not all due to lower SES of the disadvantaged group but also diminished returns of SES resources for them. Youth physical health disparities due to race and ethnicity exist across all SES levels.

SUBMITTER: Assari S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6770143 | biostudies-other | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Parental Educational Attainment and Chronic Medical Conditions among American Youth; Minorities' Diminished Returns.

Assari Shervin S Bazargan Mohsen M Caldwell Cleopatra C

Children (Basel, Switzerland) 20190826 9

<h4>Background</h4>Parental educational attainment is protective against chronic medical conditions (CMCs). According to the minorities' diminished returns (MDRs) theory, however, the health effects of socioeconomic status (SES) indicators are smaller for socially marginalized groups such as racial and ethnic minorities rather than Whites.<h4>Aims</h4>To explore racial and ethnic differences in the effect of parental educational attainment on CMCs in a nationally representative sample of America ...[more]

PMID: 31454956

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Project description:Background:Youth educational outcomes are a function of a wide range of factors including parental education level. This effect, however, is shown to be smaller for African American, Hispanic, and Asian American youth, a pattern called Marginalization-related Diminished Returns (MDRs). It is, however, unknown if it is race/ethnicity or other conditions associated with race/ethnicity (e.g., poor neighborhood quality) which reduces the marginal returns of parental education for youth. Aim:To explore whether MDRs are only due to race/ethnicity or if they also remain for non-Hispanic Whites in poor neighborhoods, we compared the association between parental education level and adolescents' school performance based on neighborhood quality in a nationally representative sample of non-Hispanic Whites in the United States. Methods:This cross-sectional study used wave 1 of the Add Health study, an ongoing nationally representative cohort, 1994-2019. Participants included 849 non-Hispanic White adolescents between the ages of 12 and 21 years and their parents. The independent variable was parental education level, which was treated as a continuous measure. Age, grade, gender, and parental marital status were the covariates. The dependent variable was school performance (sum of school grades in Math, English, History, and Science). Linear regression models were used for data analysis. Results:Overall, worse neighborhood quality was associated with worse school performance. Parental education level, however, was not directly associated with youth school performance. We found a statistically significant interaction between parental education level and neighborhood quality suggesting that the strength of the association between parental education and youth school performance weakens as neighborhood quality declines. Conclusion:Parental education level is a more salient determinant of youth educational outcomes in better neighborhoods. The result suggests that MDRs may not be solely due to race/ethnicity but contextual factors that commonly covary with marginalization and poverty. These contextual factors may include segregation, concentration of poverty, and social and physical neighborhood disorder.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Recent research has documented marginalization-related diminished returns (MDRs) of socioeconomic status (SES), defined as weaker effects of SES indicators, such as parental educational attainment, on securing tangible outcomes for the members of socially marginalized (e.g., racial and ethnic minority) groups, compared to privileged social groups (e.g., non-Hispanic Whites). AIMS:To explore race/ethnic differences between non-Hispanic Blacks vs. non-Hispanic Whites who attend urban public schools on the effect of parental education on lower school environmental risk among American high schoolers. METHODS:For this cross-sectional study, we borrowed the Education Longitudinal Study (ELS-2002) baseline data, a nationally representative study that enrolled 1706 10th grade youths who were attending urban public schools. From this number, 805 (47.2%) were non-Hispanic Black and 901 (52.8%) were non-Hispanic White youths. The dependent variable was the level of school social environmental risk measured using 18 items as self-reported, and was treated as a continuous variable. The independent variable was parental educational attainment, treated as a continuous measure. Gender, region, and parental marital status were the covariates. Race/ethnicity was the moderating variable. Linear regressions were applied to perform our data analysis. RESULTS:Black students were found to attend schools with higher levels of social environmental risk. Youths with parents with a higher educational attainment were found to attend schools with a lower social environmental risk. We found a significant interaction between race (non-Hispanic Black vs. non-Hispanic White) and parental educational attainment on the level of school social environmental risk, suggesting that the protective effect of high parental education on reducing the school social environmental risk was smaller for non-Hispanic Black than for non-Hispanic White youths. CONCLUSIONS:Although high parental educational attainment is protective against social environmental risk for American youths, this protective effect is weaker for non-Hispanic Black than non-Hispanic White youths. The diminished returns of parental education in reducing school social environmental risk may explain why the effects of parental education on educational outcomes are smaller for non-Hispanic Black than non-Hispanic White youths (i.e., MDRs). The social environment indirectly generates racial youth educational disparities through deteriorating non-Hispanic Black youth educational outcomes across all SES levels. To prevent the confounding effects of private, suburban, rural, and Catholic schools, we limited this analysis to public urban schools. More research is needed on other settings.

Project description:Background:Socioeconomic Status (SES) indicators, such as educational attainment, are social determinants of heart disease. Marginalization related Diminished Returns (MDRs) refer to smaller health benefits of high SES for racial and ethnic minorities compared to the majority group. It is still unknown, however, if MDRs also apply to the effects of education on heart disease. Purpose:Using a nationally representative sample, we explored racial/ethnic variation in the link between educational attainment and heart disease among American adults. Methods:We analyzed data (n=25,659) from a nationally representative survey of American adults in 2013. The first wave of the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health - Adult (PATH-Adult) study was used. The independent variable was education (college graduate, high school graduate, less than a high school diploma). The dependent variable was any heart disease. Age and gender were the covariates. Race, as well as ethnicity, were the moderators. Logistic regressions were used to analyze the data. Results:Individuals with higher educational attainment had lower odds of heart disease. Race and ethnicity showed statistically significant interactions with education, suggesting that the protective effect of higher education on reducing odds of heart disease was smaller for Hispanic and Black people than for non-Hispanic and White individuals. Conclusion:Education reduces the risk of heart disease better among non-Hispanic Whites than for Hispanics and Blacks. Therefore, we may expect a disproportionately higher than expected risk of heart disease in Hispanics and Blacks with high educational attainment. Future research should test if the presence of high levels of environmental and behavioral risk factors contribute to the high risk of heart disease in highly educated Black and Hispanic Americans. Policymakers should not reduce health inequalities to just gaps in SES because disparities are present across SES levels, with high SES Blacks and Hispanics remaining at risk of health problems.

Project description:BackgroundTo investigate ethnic differences in the protective effects of family income against youth social, emotional, and behavioral problems in the US. As proposed by the Marginalization-related Diminished Returns (MDRs), family income may generate fewer tangible outcomes for ethnic minority compared to NHW families. Our existing knowledge is minimal about diminished returns of family income on parental reports of youth social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes.AimTo compare ethnic groups for the effects of family income on parental reports of youth social, emotional, and behavioral problems.Materials and methodsIn this cross-sectional study, data from wave 1 of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study were included. The ABCD, an ongoing national cohort of American youth brain development, included 10,762 American youth between ages 8 and 11 years old. The independent variable was family income. The primary outcomes were 1) anxious and depressed mood, 2) withdrawn and depressed affect, 3) somatic complaints, 4) social and interpersonal problems, 5) thought problems, 6) rule-breaking behaviors, 7) attention problems, and 8) violent and aggressive behaviors. These outcomes were generated based on parent-reported behavioral problems measured using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL).ResultsOverall, high family income was associated with lower levels of parental reports of youth social, emotional, and behavioral problems across all domains (p <0.05 for all beta coefficients across multivariable regression models). Ethnicity showed statistically significant interactions with family income on youth fewer social, emotional, and behavioral problems (all domains), net of all confounders (p <0.05 for all beta coefficients that reflected interaction terms across multivariable regression models), indicating smaller tangible gains from their family income for NHB and HW compared to NHW youth.ConclusionThe protective effects of family income against behavioral problems are systematically diminished for HW and NHB youth compared to NHW youth. To minimize the ethnic gap in youth social, behavioral, and emotional problems, diminished returns of family income should be addressed. There is a need for programs and interventions that equalize not only SES but also the marginal returns of SES for ethnic groups. Such efforts require addressing structural and societal barriers that hinder HW and NHB families from translating their SES resources into tangible outcomes. There is a need for studies that can minimize MDRs for NHB and HW families. Thus, SES can similarly secure tangible outcomes in the presence of SES resources.

Project description:Introduction: Although the effects of parental education and household income on children's brain development are well established, less is known about possible variation in these effects across diverse racial and ethnic groups. According to the Minorities' Diminished Returns (MDRs) phenomenon, due to structural racism, social stratification, and residential segregation, parental educational attainment and household income show weaker effects for non-White than White children. Purpose: Built on the MDRs framework and conceptualizing race as a social rather than a biological factor, this study explored racial and ethnic variation in the magnitude of the effects of parental education and household income on children's whole-brain cortical surface area. Methods: For this cross-sectional study, we used baseline socioeconomic and structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) data of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. Our analytical sample was 10,262 American children between ages 9 and 10. The independent variables were parental education and household income. The primary outcome was the children's whole-brain cortical surface area. Age, sex, and family marital status were covariates. Race and ethnicity were the moderators. We used mixed-effects regression models for data analysis as participants were nested within families and study sites. Results: High parental education and household income were associated with larger children's whole-brain cortical surface area. The effects of high parental education and high household income on children's whole-brain cortical surface area were modified by race. Compared to White children, Black children showed a diminished return of high parental education on the whole-brain cortical surface area when compared to White children. Asian American children showed weaker effects of household income on the whole-brain cortical surface area when compared to White children. We could not find differential associations between parental education and household income with the whole-brain cortical surface area, when compared to White children, for non-Hispanic and Hispanic children. Conclusions: The effects of parental educational attainment and household income on children's whole-brain cortical surface area are weaker in non-White than White families. Although parental education and income contribute to children's brain development, these effects are unequal across racial groups.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Non-Hispanic Black (NHB) youth are at a higher risk of high-risk behaviors compared to non-Hispanic White (NHW) youth. Some of this racial gap is shown to be due to weaker effects of parental educational attainment on reducing the prevalence of behavioral risk factors such as impulsivity, substance use, aggression, obesity, and poor school performance for NHBs, a pattern called Minorities' Diminished Returns. These diminishing returns may be due to lower than expected effects of parental education on inhibitory control. AIM:We compared NHW and NHB youth for the effect of parental educational attainment on youth inhibitory control, a psychological and cognitive construct that closely predicts high-risk behaviors such as the use of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. METHODS:This was a cross-sectional analysis that included 4188 youth from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. The independent variable was parental educational attainment. The main outcome was youth inhibitory control measured by the stop-signal task (SST), which was validated by parent reports on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). RESULTS:In race/ethnicity-stratified models, high parental educational attainment was associated with a higher level of inhibitory control for NHB than NHW youth. In the pooled sample, race/ethnicity showed a statistically significant interaction with parental educational attainment on youth inhibitory control suggesting that high parental educational attainment has a smaller boosting effect on inhibitory control for NHB than NHW youth. CONCLUSION:Parental educational attainment boosts inhibitory control for NHW but not NHB youth. To minimize the racial gap in youth brain development, we need to address societal barriers that diminish the returns of family economic and human resources, particularly parental educational attainment, for racial and ethnic minority youth. Social and public policies should address structural and societal barriers such as social stratification, segregation, racism, and discrimination that hinder NHB parents' abilities to effectively mobilize their human resources and secure tangible outcomes for their developing youth.

Dataset Information

Parental Educational Attainment and Chronic Medical Conditions among American Youth; Minorities' Diminished Returns.

Publications

Parental Educational Attainment and Chronic Medical Conditions among American Youth; Minorities' Diminished Returns.

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