Assari Shervin, Zare Hossein
Marginalized-Related Diminished Returns (MDRs) Research Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Department of Family Medicine, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Glob J Epidemol Infect Dis. 2024;4(1):82-91. doi: 10.31586/gjeid.2024.1105. Epub 2024 Nov 9.
Educational attainment is known to improve self-rated health; however, research suggests that these benefits may be less pronounced for racial and ethnic minority groups. The Minorities' Diminished Returns (MDRs) theory posits that the protective effects of resources such as education are weaker for marginalized populations, such as Black and Latino individuals, compared to their White counterparts.
This study aims to investigate racial and ethnic disparities in the association between years of schooling and self-rated health among U.S. adults, with a focus on understanding the reduced health benefits of education for Black and Latino individuals.
Using data from the Understanding America Study (UAS; 2014), we conducted a cross-sectional analysis of adults aged 18 and older (N = 6,785). Self-rated health was the outcome, and years of schooling was the primary independent variable. We controlled for sociodemographic factors including age, gender, employment status, immigration status, and marital status. Stratified analyses were conducted by race/ethnicity (Non-Latino White, Non-Latino Black, and Latino). Linear regression models were used to examine the association between years of schooling and self-rated health, and interaction terms were included to assess variation in this relationship across racial/ethnic groups.
While years of schooling was positively associated with better self-rated health overall, the magnitude of this effect was weaker for Black and Latino individuals compared to White individuals. After adjusting for sociodemographic factors, Black and Latino adults reported worse self-rated health for each additional year of schooling, compared to their White counterparts, supporting the MDRs hypothesis.
The findings suggest that while higher educational attainment is protective against worse self-rated health, this protection is not equally distributed across racial and ethnic groups. Black and Latino individuals experience diminished returns from their years of schooling in terms of self-rated health, likely due to structural barriers and social inequalities. Policies addressing health disparities must consider these diminished returns and aim to reduce structural racism and discrimination that undermine the benefits of education for minoritized populations.
已知受教育程度的提高会改善自评健康状况；然而，研究表明，这些益处对少数种族和族裔群体而言可能不那么明显。少数群体回报递减（MDRs）理论认为，与白人相比，教育等资源对边缘化群体（如黑人和拉丁裔个体）的保护作用较弱。
本研究旨在调查美国成年人中受教育年限与自评健康之间的种族和族裔差异，重点是了解教育对黑人和拉丁裔个体健康益处减少的情况。
利用“了解美国研究”（UAS；2014年）的数据，我们对18岁及以上的成年人（N = 6785）进行了横断面分析。自评健康是结果变量，受教育年限是主要自变量。我们控制了社会人口学因素，包括年龄、性别、就业状况、移民身份和婚姻状况。按种族/族裔（非拉丁裔白人、非拉丁裔黑人、拉丁裔）进行分层分析。使用线性回归模型来检验受教育年限与自评健康之间的关联，并纳入交互项以评估这种关系在不同种族/族裔群体中的差异。
虽然总体而言受教育年限与更好的自评健康呈正相关，但与白人相比，这种影响的程度对黑人和拉丁裔个体较弱。在调整社会人口学因素后，与白人相比，黑人和拉丁裔成年人每多接受一年教育，自评健康状况就更差，这支持了少数群体回报递减假说。
研究结果表明，虽然更高的受教育程度对较差的自评健康有保护作用，但这种保护在不同种族和族裔群体中分布不均。黑人和拉丁裔个体在自评健康方面从受教育年限中获得的回报递减，这可能是由于结构性障碍和社会不平等所致。解决健康差异问题的政策必须考虑到这些回报递减情况，并旨在减少破坏少数群体教育益处的结构性种族主义和歧视。
