Addressing Socioeconomic Inequities in Children's Cardiovascular Health via Positive Experiences.

Authors

Dr Shuaijun Guo, Rushani Wijesuriya, David Burgner, Meredith O'Connor, Sharon Goldfeld, Richard S Liu, Naomi Priest

Published in

Academic pediatrics. Pages 103381. Jul 02, 2026. Epub Jul 02, 2026.

Abstract

Socioeconomic disadvantage often leads to high rates of poor cardiovascular health and this relationship may be mediated by positive experiences. This study estimated the extent to which promoting positive experiences could reduce socioeconomic inequities in children's cardiovascular health.
Data source: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (N=1874).
Maternal education (low/medium/high) as a key indicator of family socioeconomic position during pregnancy.
Cardiovascular health (11-12 years) (poor/good) quantified by four health behaviors (diet, physical activity, nicotine exposure, sleep) and four health factors (body mass index, blood lipids, blood glucose. Blood pressure). Mediator: Multiple positive experiences (2-11 years) (≥2) indicated by positive parenting, supportive relationships, environments, and high social engagement. We conducted a causal mediation analysis using an interventional effects approach, adjusting for childhood adversity and other confounders.
Children with low (risk difference=4.9%, 95% CI=-3.2%, 13.0%) or medium (risk difference=5.6%, 95% CI=-1.2%, 12.5%) maternal education had a higher risk of poor cardiovascular health compared to those with high maternal education. Increasing the levels of multiple positive experiences in children with low or medium maternal education to be like their high maternal education peers could reduce these risk differences by 1.0% (95% CI= -0.8%,2.8%) and 0.5% (95% CI=-0.5%, 1.5%) respectively, reducing cardiovascular inequities by 20.4% and 8.9%.
Targeted interventions promoting positive experiences can reduce socioeconomic inequities in children's cardiovascular health. Such interventions should be considered within a broader and multipronged approach that includes addressing socioeconomic disadvantage itself and other socially distributed drivers to achieve the maximum impact.

PMID:
42392566
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 03 Jul 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.