ORLANDO, Fla., Sept.15 -- Higher educational levels of parents may be associated with a reduced risk of high blood pressure among teens later in life, suggests a small study presented at the American Heart Association's meeting on high blood pressure.
"Our study is the first to show that having parents with some college education can help teens compensate for the negative effects of living in a low socioeconomic neighborhood," says Dawn K. Wilson, Ph.D., associate professor of medicine at the Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.
"Having higher educated parents may result in health benefits for their children. The study reinforces the message that education is important," says Wilson.
Researchers do not have an explanation for the findings, however, co-author Wendy L. Kliewer, Ph.D., published a study last year that found that children of more educated mothers were more likely to feel that their mothers were available to discuss stressful life events, Wilson says. This study presented today is the first to link parental education to adolescents' blood pressure in reaction to stress.
"The teenage years are the perfect age to target because we can help them learn health behaviors that will reduce their risk of developing high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease in adulthood,"says Wilson.
The researchers used census data to calculate neighborhood socioeconomic status (NEIGH SES) using variables such as percentage of households below the poverty line, female-headed households, owner-occupied households and vacant housing. They then divided 77 healthy teenagers, ages 13 to 16, into two groups: low NEIGH SES and high NEIGH SES. They divided each of those groups into two levels based on the amount of parental education.
The teenagers were given a test that measures blood pressure changes in response to stress. To measure blood pressure response researchers asked each teen to play a competitive video game three times. They were told to compete with themselves to see if they could beat their first video game score. In the third game they were also given a financial incentive to beat their top score.
"An increase in blood pressure in response to stress is associated with an increased risk for developing high blood pressure later in life," according to Wilson. "A high stress response, called blood pressure reactivity, is a sign that the person may be at risk for developing high blood pressure later in life."
Among the 23 youths living in the low-SES environment, the 12 teens whose parents had attended college reacted less to the video game than teens whose parents had a high school education or less. For instance, diastolic blood pressure -- the pressure when the heart is at rest between beats -- increased an average 13 mm/Hg for adolescents whose parents had less education, nearly twice the 7 mm/Hg rise in the teenagers whose parents had more education, she says.
African-American teenagers are about twice as likely to develop high blood pressure in early adulthood, as are Caucasian adolescents. Individuals of both races in low-income neighborhoods may be at greater risk for developing high blood pressure in early adulthood, says Wilson, a health psychologist. High blood pressure greatly increases the risk of stroke, heart attack and kidney failure. One in five Americans has high blood pressure.
Co-authors include Laura Plybon, M.S., and Domenic A. Sica, M.D.
Media advisory: Dr. Wilson can be reached at (804) 828-7520. (Please do not publish telephone number.)