Race and Ethnicity Moderates the Relationship Between Family Income Level and Allostatic Load Among Adolescents in the United States.

PURPOSE: People from low-income households are at risk of high allostatic load (AL) in adulthood, which is linked to poor physical and mental health outcomes. It is unclear how early the income-AL link develops and whether this association differs by race and/or ethnicity. We examined associations of family income with high AL among adolescents and whether race and/or ethnicity modified associations.

METHODS

Cross-sectional, nationally representative data came from 748 US adolescents (aged 12-17 years) who participated in the prepandemic 2017-March 2020 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Family income was measured using poverty-income ratio (PIR) and categorized as low income (PIR <1.0), middle income (PIR 1.0-4.0), and high income (PIR >4.0). AL was derived from 9 biomarkers. Modified Poisson regression models estimated prevalence ratios (PRs) for associations of family income with high AL overall and stratified by race and/or ethnicity (non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic).

RESULTS

Nearly 1 in 5 adolescents (19.7%) met the criteria for high AL. Compared to high-income peers, middle-income adolescents had more than twice the prevalence of high AL (PR: 2.16; 95% confidence interval: 1.13-4.13), and low-income adolescents had nearly triple the prevalence of high AL (PR: 2.98; 95% confidence interval: 1.76-5.04). Stratified models observed these associations only for non-Hispanic White adolescents, while for non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic youth, associations were attenuated and nonsignificant.

DISCUSSION: Higher family income was protective against high AL only for non-Hispanic White adolescents. Minority youth may face additional stressors that diminish the protective effects of higher income.