Abstract Body: Background:
Extant research highlights the role of social relationships in shaping cardiovascular health, yet little is known about how social network dynamics relate to the American Heart Association’s Life’s Essential 8 (ES8) metrics among young adult Black women.
Methods:
We analyzed cross-sectional data from 97 young Black women in the Southeastern U.S. Participants reported health behaviors and described up to 18 members of their social network. Self-report data were available for the following five ES8 components: diet, physical activity, sleep duration, tobacco use, and body mass index. Network measures included size, relational composition, participants’ knowledge of the network members’ health history, and the proportion of network members with whom participants have discussed heart health or would share health goals.
Results:
The average age was 26.9 ± 6.4 years, 56.7% were college graduates, and 24.74% met four or more ES8 metrics. The average network size was 6.02 (± 2.26), and participants believed over half of their network had been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease, hypertension, or diabetes (0.55 ± 0.31). Only 23% (± 23%) of alters were described as discussion partners for heart health topics, yet most participants indicated they would share health goals with a high proportion of family (mean = 0.91 ± 0.21) and friends (0.86 ± 0.27). Although those who discussed their cardiovascular health with a higher proportion of family were more than twice as likely to meet four or more ES8 metrics (aOR = 2.18, 95% CI 0.67–7.16), confidence intervals were wide and findings were not statistically significant.
Conclusions:
Young adults in this sample met few ES8 goals despite active social networks. Descriptive patterns suggest that family-based goal sharing may be a promising leverage point for promoting cardiovascular health behaviors. Larger, longitudinal studies are needed to confirm these relationships and test network-informed interventions.