Introduction to the Special Issue on Race at the Forefront

The Collaboration on Race, Inequality, and Social Mobility in America (CRISMA) hosted its inaugural conference on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis in March 2019 in order to convene influential, interdisciplinary emerging and senior scholars to share their work related to the development of innovative solutions needed to address racial inequities related to social, economic and health outcomes. The goal of this volume is to provide a synthesis of findings presented at the conference. The articles in this special issue of the Journal on Race, Inequality and Social Mobility in America have the potential to move us toward a more nuanced, impactful research agenda necessary to not only advance our understanding racial inequities but also provide solutions that could be effective in addressing deeply entrenched, historical inequities

Racial/ethnic differences in the relationship between wealth and health across young adulthood

Background Although the relationship between socioeconomic position (SEP) and health has been well documented, very few prior investigations have examined the time-varying association between wealth and health across race/ethnicity. This study examined the racial/ethnic differences in the wealth–health associations during young adulthood. Method Data were drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 with three time points, when respondents were aged 20, 25, and 30. The primary dependent variable was dichotomized self-rated health (SRH). Two indices of wealth were calculated: respondents’ own reported net worth and reported parental net worth in 1997. Other SEP indicators included household income, education, employment status, and parental education. Three racial/ethnic groups were examined: nonHispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic. Two-level logistic regression was performed, stratified by race/ethnicity. Results In the whole-sample analysis, racial/ethnic differences in SRH were not statistically significant, after controlling for wealth. For self-reported net worth during young adulthood, wealth has a incremental consistent effect on health among non-Hispanic White respondents and Hispanic respondents but not among Black respondents. Individual net worth and parental net worth were only significantly associated with health among the highest wealth quartiles among non-Hispanic Black respondents. Only individual net worth, not parental net worth, was significantly associated with SRH in the Hispanic sample. Conclusion This study examined racial/ethnic differences in time-varying relationship between wealth and health during young adulthood. Findings indicate that there are notable racial/ethnic differences in the patterning of wealth–health association that appear to emerge in early adulthood. Implications for asset-based policy and programs are discussed

Race, Socioeconomic Position and Depression: The Mental Health Costs of Upward Mobility.

The relationship between socioeconomic position (SEP) and depression among African Americans was explored in this dissertation. Several SEP indicators, specifically household income, education, parental education, net worth, and home value, were used to predict odds of depression among African Americans. This dissertation also considered how experiences of racial discrimination and the utilization of high-effort coping (John Henryism) were related to odds of depression for African Americans. Data for this dissertation were drawn from the National Survey of American Life (NSAL), which includes a nationally representative sample of African Americans. It was hypothesized that SEP would be related to increased odds of depression for African Americans. Analyses revealed that home value and parental education predict greater odds of depression among African Americans. Conversely, household income and years of education predicted decreased odds of depression for African Americans. However, the inverse association between household income, education, and depression was only observed once the effects of home value were accounted for in the multivariate logistic regression model predicting depression. It was also hypothesized that increased levels of SEP would be related to greater reports of racial discrimination and higher John Henryism scores. Analyses indicated that higher SEP is related to greater reports of racial discrimination among African Americans. Additionally, racial discrimination was related to increased odds of depression. Parental education and home value were positively related to John Henryism while there was inverse association observed among household income, education, and John Henryism. There was no relationship between John Henryism and depression. The results of this dissertation indicate that it is important to consider both childhood SEP and indicators of wealth in the examination of depression among African Americans. Results also highlight the fact that increases in SEP are accompanied with increased exposure to racial discrimination for African Americans, which poses a threat to the mental health of African Americans. Public health researchers should explore stressors that African Americans face that may undermine the health benefits of improved SEP.Ph.D.Health Behavior & Health EducationUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/64820/1/hudsondl_1.pd

Race at the Forefront in Social and Economic Inequities

Racial wealth inequity between Whites and people of color, particularly Black and Latino Americans, is one of the most pressing social and economic issues in the United States, historically and at present. The magnitude of the racial wealth gap is immense and deeply entrenched, and the scale of racial inequities in wealth has changed very little in recent times. Without radical changes, at the current rate of growth, the wealth gap between Whites, compared to Black and Latino families will be over one million dollars by 2044. Considering the shifting demographics of the U.S., including projections that indicate that the majority of the U.S. population will be composed of people of color by 2040, it is even more critical to investigate different approaches to address racial wealth inequities. This paper aims to provide a historical transdisciplinary understanding of racial wealth inequality. In addition, we highlight key takeaways provided by panelists in the Race at the Forefront in Social Policy section of the Collaboration on Race, Inequality, and Social Mobility in America (CRISMA)’s inaugural conference to light the path forward

Cash Transfers and Health

Financial resources are known to affect health outcomes. Many types of social policies and programs, including social assistance and social insurance, have been implemented around the world to increase financial resources. We refer to these as cash transfers. In this article, we discuss theory and evidence on whether, how, for whom, and to what extent purposeful cash transfers improve health. Evidence suggests that cash transfers produce positive health effects, but there are many complexities and variations in the outcomes. Continuing research and policy innovation—for example, universal basic income and universal Child Development Accounts—are likely to be productive

Discrimination, mastery, and depressive symptoms among African American men

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/88130/1/watkins_hudson_etal2011.pd

Are benefits conferred with greater socioeconomic position undermined by racial discrimination among African American men?

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jomh.2012.03.00

Relationship between abuse and neglect in childhood and diabetes in adulthood: Differential effects by sex, national longitudinal study of adolescent health

INTRODUCTION: Few studies have investigated links between child abuse and neglect and diabetes mellitus in nationally representative samples, and none have explored the role of obesity in the relationship. We sought to determine whether child abuse and neglect were associated with diabetes and if so, whether obesity mediated this relationship in a population-representative sample of young adults. METHODS: We used data from 14,493 participants aged 24 to 34 years from Wave IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to study associations between self-reported child abuse (sexual, physical, or emotional abuse) and neglect as children and diabetes or prediabetes in young adulthood. We conducted sex-stratified logistic regression analyses to evaluate associations in models before and after the addition of body mass index (BMI) as a covariate. RESULTS: Although the prevalence of diabetes was similar for men and women (7.0% vs 6.7%), men were more likely than women to have prediabetes (36.3% vs 24.6%; omnibus P < .001). Among men, recurrent sexual abuse (≥3 lifetime incidents) was significantly associated with diabetes (OR, 3.66; 95% CI, 1.31–10.24), but not with prediabetes. There was no evidence of mediation by BMI. No forms of child abuse or neglect were associated with diabetes or prediabetes among women. CONCLUSIONS: Recurrent sexual abuse is robustly associated with diabetes in young adult men, independently of other forms of child abuse or neglect and BMI. Future research should explore other potential mechanisms for this association to identify avenues for prevention of diabetes among men who have experienced sexual abuse

Genetic and environmental risk for major depression in African-American and European-American women

It is unknown whether there are racial differences in the heritability of major depressive disorder (MDD) because most psychiatric genetic studies have been conducted in samples comprised largely of white non-Hispanics. To examine potential differences between African-American (AA) and European-American (EA) young adult women in (1) DSM-IV MDD prevalence, symptomatology and risk factors and (2) genetic and/or environmental liability to MDD, we analyzed data from a large, population representative sample of twins ascertained from birth records (n= 550 AA and n=3226 EA female twins) aged 18–28 years at the time of MDD assessment by semi-structured psychiatric interview. AA women were more likely to have MDD risk factors; however, there were no significant differences in lifetime MDD prevalence between AA and EA women after adjusting for covariates (Odds Ratio = 0.88, 95% confidence interval: 0.67–1.15 ). Most MDD risk factors identified among AAs were also associated with MDD at similar magnitudes among EAs. Although the MDD heritability point estimate was higher among AA than EA women in a model with paths estimated separately by race (56%, 95% CI: 29%–78% vs. 41%, 95% CI: 29%–52%), the best-fitting model was one in which additive genetic and nonshared environmental paths for AA and EA women were constrained to be equal (A = 43%, 33%–53% and E = 57%, 47%–67%). Despite a marked elevation in the prevalence of environmental risk exposures related to MDD among AA women, there were no significant differences in lifetime prevalence or heritability of MDD between AA and EA young women