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Unique contribution of education to behavioral and psychosocial antecedents of health in a national sample of African Americans

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Abstract

Education has demonstrated consistent links with many aspects of physical health and is theorized to relate to a variety of behavioral and psychosocial antecedents of health that may ultimately account for these associations. However, many of these associations and the extent to which they manifest specifically for African Americans have not been thoroughly tested. We examined associations of education—distinct from income—with established behavioral and psychosocial antecedents of health in a national sample of African Americans. Education favorably related to many behavioral (e.g., fruit/vegetable intake, lifetime smoking) and psychosocial (e.g., self-efficacy, personality traits, self-esteem, psychological well-being) antecedents of health, but not to all. Some evidence of stronger salutary relations of education for women was found. Results suggest that, for African Americans, education is generally favorably associated with an array of behavioral and psychosocial antecedents of physical health, partially explaining health disparities and providing a point of intervention moving forward.

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Funding

This study was funded by a grant from the National Cancer Institute, (#1 R01 CA 105202). The study was approved by the University of Maryland Institutional Review Board (#373528-1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, 06269, USA

    Crystal L. Park

  2. Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Eddie M. Clark

  3. Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA

    Emily Schulz

  4. UAB Comprehensive Center for Healthy Aging, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Beverly Rosa Williams

  5. University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    Randi M. Williams & Cheryl L. Holt

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  1. Crystal L. Park
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Correspondence to Crystal L. Park.

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Crystal L. Park, Eddie M. Clark, Emily Schulz, Beverly Rosa Williams, Randi M. Williams, and Cheryl L. Holt declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Park, C.L., Clark, E.M., Schulz, E. et al. Unique contribution of education to behavioral and psychosocial antecedents of health in a national sample of African Americans. J Behav Med 42, 860–872 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-018-00009-w

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