How Does Striving Against Adversity Impact Emotional Well-being and Cardiovascular Risk in Children?
Description/Abstract
Working hard and persisting through challenges (i.e., striving) are often encouraged for children who face adversity. But for children facing severe adversity, striving can come with hidden costs. This brief summarizes findings from a study using data from the Environmental Exposures and Child Health Outcomes (EECHO) cohort (N=283, 2013-2017) of children ages 9-11 in Syracuse, NY. The authors find that children facing adversity who strived harder reported lower depression and hostility. However, high-striving high-adversity children also experienced significantly higher blood pressure and enlarged heart chambers than their lower striving peers, both risk factors for future heart disease.
Document Type
Research Brief
Keywords
Cardiovascular disease, adversity, striving, childhood, mental health
Disciplines
Cardiovascular Diseases | Maternal and Child Health | Mental and Social Health | Public Health
Date
3-24-2026
Language
English
Acknowledgements
Research reported in this study was supported by funding from the National Institute of Environmental Health (NIEHS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (ES023252). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of NIEHS or NIH. The authors thank Alyssa Kirk and Shannon Monnat for copyediting and formatting assistance.
Funder(s)
National Institute of Environmental Health (NIEHS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Funding ID
ES023252
Recommended Citation
Gump, Brooks B., Pilkay, Stefanie, Wang, Xiafei, Vasilenko, Sara, Atallah-Yunes, Nader H., Woolf-King, Sarah, Maisto, Stephen, Chen, Edith, and Ewart, Craig K. (2026). “How Does Striving Against Adversity Impact Emotional Well-being and Cardiovascular Risk in Children?” Lerner Center Population Health Research Brief Series. Research Brief #144. Accessed at: https://doi.org/10.14305/rt.lerner.2026.6.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Included in
Cardiovascular Diseases Commons, Maternal and Child Health Commons, Mental and Social Health Commons
