College completion predicts lower depression but higher metabolic syndrome among disadvantaged minorities in young adulthood

Abstract

SignificanceCollege graduates enjoy healthier, longer lives compared with individuals who do not graduate from college. However, the health benefit of educational attainment is not as great for blacks as it is for whites. Moreover, college completion may not erase the detrimental effects of early-life disadvantage for blacks and Hispanics. We use nationally representative data on young adults to test whether American minorities experience differential returns to educational attainment. We find that college completion predicts lower rates of depression for all racial groups. It also predicts lower metabolic syndrome among whites. However, college completion predicts higher metabolic syndrome among black and Hispanic adults from disadvantaged backgrounds, suggesting upward mobility may come at a health cost to young minorities in America.

Longer schooling but not better off? A quasi-experimental study of the effect of compulsory schooling on biomarkers in France

“…The exact biological mechanism linking compulsory schooling to poorer health remains unclear and should be the subject of future research. Our findings relate to research in the United States showing that disadvantaged minorities with higher education reported higher allostatic load and cardiovascular biomarkers than their less educated counterparts (Brody et al, 2013;Gaydosh, Schorpp, Chen, Miller, & Mullan Harris, 2018;Miller, Yu, Chen, & Brody, 2015).…”

Stress and the Mental Health of Populations of Color: Advancing Our Understanding of Race-related Stressors

“…Similarly, in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, lower levels of depression are associated with college completion, irrespective of childhood disadvantage and for all racial/ethnic groups (blacks, whites, Hispanics) (Gaydosh et al 2018). In contrast, college completion is associated with lower metabolic syndrome for whites, irrespective of exposure to childhood disadvantage, but among black and Hispanic youth, college completion is associated with higher metabolic syndrome among those from disadvantaged childhood environments.…”

Understanding College “Burnout” from a Social Perspective: Reigniting the Agency of Low-Income Racial Minority Strivers Towards Achievement

“…"Exception" cases are often used to justify the existence of an unrealistic working meritocratic system of equal opportunity and place the onus of academic achievement entirely upon the individual (Henry, 2015;McWhorter, 2000;Tough, 2013). However, this research complicates those theories and validates evidence that even the most accomplished strivers might deal with severe physiological ailments which may in fact be preventable (Gaydosh et al, 2017).…”

“…Finally, it is important to understand that from a wellness perspective, college completion and professional success should not necessarily be in and of itself a metric of accomplishment and fulfillment. On the contrary, it has been found that the college completion of low-income racial minority students is associated with greater stress over the life course, perhaps from pressure to perform and resulting overwork (Gaydosh et al, 2017). This is a bleak reality and an understudied health cost to social mobility.…”