Effects of the Great Recession on Educational Disparities in Cardiometabolic Health

BACKGROUND: Macroeconomic crises can exaggerate existing educational disparities in health. Few studies, however, have examined whether macroeconomic crises get under the skin to affect educational disparities in health-related biological processes. PURPOSE: This study aimed to examine the effect of the economic recession of 2008 (i.e., Great Recession) on educational disparities in cardiometabolic risk and self-reported psychological distress. METHODS: Data were drawn from two subsamples of the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) study: the second wave of the MIDUS sample (pre-recession cohort, N = 985) and the refresher sample (post-recession cohort, N = 863). Educational attainment was categorized into high school education or less, some college, and bachelor's degree or higher. Outcomes included metabolic syndrome, C-reactive protein, and interleukin-6, as well as self-reported perceived stress, depressive symptoms, and financial distress. RESULTS: Results showed that having a bachelor's degree or higher (compared to having a high school education or less) was more strongly associated with decreased metabolic syndrome symptoms in the post-recession cohort than the pre-recession cohort, above and beyond demographic, health, and behavioral covariates. These findings did not extend to systemic inflammation or psychological distress. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that chronic macroeconomic stressors may widen the educational gap in physical health, particularly cardiometabolic health, by modifying biological and anthropometric risk factors implicated in metabolic syndrome.