Objective: The current study investigated whether greater maternal support during adolescence is associated with lower levels of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in adulthood, and whether maternal support serves as a moderator or a mediator of the socioeconomic status (SES) and CVD risk association. In addition, potential moderators and mediators of the association between adult CVD risk and adolescent maternal support and SES were tested.
Method: Using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (n = 11,013), we examined relations between maternal support during adolescence (M = 15.3 years) and CVD risk in young adulthood (M = 28.7 years) via path analysis. Maternal support was assessed by a composite of adolescent and mother report. CVD risk was calculated with a Framingham-based prediction model that uses age, sex, body mass index, smoking, systolic blood pressure, diabetes, and use of antihypertensive medication.
Results: Greater maternal support in adolescence was related to lower CVD risk in young adulthood (B = -0.56, 95% CI: -0.91 to -0.20, p < .01). The interaction between adolescent SES and maternal support was not significant, (p > .05), but there was an interaction between maternal support and race such that African American adolescents were more sensitive than Whites to the effects of maternal support on CVD risk (B = -0.90, 95% CI: -1.56, -0.25, p < .01). In addition, there was no evidence that maternal support mediated the association between SES and CVD risk (p > .05), and there was no association between SES and maternal support (p > .05), adjusting for confounders. However, the relations of adolescent maternal support and SES to adult CVD risk were mediated by young adult health behaviors and financial stress but not by depressive symptoms.
Conclusion: Greater maternal support during adolescence appears to act independently of SES when impacting CVD risk and may operate through health behaviors and financial stress. (PsycINFO Database Record
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