New Research Finds That Feeling Happy, Optimistic, And Loved During Teenhood May Lead To Strong Cardiometabolic Health In Adulthood 

Misha - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
Misha - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purposes only, not the actual person

Teenagers have been suffering a mental health epidemic that only accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Per a CDC report published in March 2022, 37% of U.S. high school students reported experiencing poor mental health during the pandemic. 44% also persistently felt hopeless or sad during 2021.

In addition, the new data revealed how many teenagers suffered at home amidst quarantine and isolation.

55% of teens reported experiencing emotional abuse at the hands of a parent or other adult living in the home– consisting of insults, swearing, or “putting down.”

11% also experienced physical abuse, including hitting, kicking, beating, or physical hurting in another form.

Although a new study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association has revealed that not only can strong mental health during teenhood impact the mental fitness of young adults during their twenties and thirties, but it can also affect cardiometabolic health.

Previous studies have already found that psychological components of mental well-being– including optimism, self-esteem, belongingness, happiness, and feeling loved and wanted– might be related to stronger cardiometabolic health in the long term.

But, those studies primarily focused on older adults. So, this study hoped to expand the inquiry by focusing on teenagers, as well as by including a wider measure of cardiometabolic health indicators– such as inflammation and blood sugar levels.

“We learned a lot in the last few decades about the impact of discrimination and other social risks youth of color face that may explain their cardiometabolic disease,” added Farah Querishi, the study’s lead author.

Misha – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person

“However, much less attention is paid to the inherent strengths they possess and the ways those strengths may be leveraged to advance health equity. In this study, we wanted to shift the paradigm in public health beyond the traditional focus on deficits to one that concentrates on resource building.”

In turn, the research team examined data pulled from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, which included nearly three thousand and five hundred U.S. high school students with an average age of 16 years old. These teens were enrolled in 1994 and followed for over two decades.

Nearly half of the study participants were girls. 67% of the teens were White, 15% were Black, 11% were Latino, and 6% self-reported their race as either Asian, Native American, or “other.”

Then, over 20 years, data on the teens’ health and well-being was periodically collected– with the most recent data collection occurring in 2018 when the participants’ average age was 38.

In this study, the team used initial survey responses– completed when the participants were teenagers– to identify five mental health assets that are linked to a better cardiometabolic health outcome. These included happiness, self-esteem, optimism, feeling loved, and a sense of belonging.

This data was also cross-referenced with three decades of recorded health data to ascertain whether teenagers who had more positive assets had a higher likelihood of maintaining strong cardiometabolic health during adulthood.

Then, to examine cardiometabolic health, the research team reviewed health data for seven metabolic and cardiovascular disease risk factors– which were collected when the participants visited clinics during their late twenties and thirties.

These factors included measures such as “good” cholesterol– also known as high-density lipoprotein (HDL)– as well as non-HDL cholesterol, diastolic blood pressure, blood sugar, body mass index (BMI), inflammation, and body fat.

This analysis revealed that a whopping 55% of youth had zero or one positive mental health asset. 29% had two to three; meanwhile, just 16% had four to five.

In turn, only 12% of the participants maintained strong cardiometabolic health over time– with white youth having a stronger likelihood of maintaining good health later in life as opposed to Latino or Black youth.

Although, the teens who had four to five positive mental health assets were found to be 69% more likely to maintain strong cardiometabolic health during young adulthood.

Interestingly, there was a cumulative effect as well– with each mental health asset adding an additional 12% likelihood of maintaining strong cardiometabolic health.

The researchers also noted that the largest health benefits were found among Black teens– who reported possessing more positive mental health assets than teens of any other ethnic or racial group.

In spite of this finding, though, there were still apparent racial cardiometabolic health disparities in adulthood. In other words, Black individuals were found to be the least likely to maintain strong cardiometabolic health over the long term.

“These somewhat counterintuitive findings were surprising. When we dug deeper, we found that the absence of psychological assets was particularly health-damaging for Black youth,” explained Qureshi.

“For Black youth– who face numerous barriers to achieving and sustaining optimal cardiometabolic health in adulthood– not having these additional mental health resources makes a big difference.”

So now, the researchers have advocated for larger studies that monitor positive health factors which begin in childhood. That way, medical professionals can gain a further understanding of how they may influence health and disease in the long term. Moreover, how improvements can be made to healthcare that reduce disparities.

To read the study’s complete findings, visit the link here.

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Katharina Buczek graduated from Stony Brook University with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Digital Arts. Specializing ... More about Katharina Buczek

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