Network Support and Negative Life Events Associated With Chronic Cardiometabolic Disease Outcomes

Stress from negative life events may be an important risk factor for chronic cardiometabolic conditions, which are increasingly prevalent among young adults. Support from personal networks is known to buffer stress from negative life events. Yet, evidence for these relationships among both young and older adults remains unclear. Longitudinal data came from the University of California, Berkeley Social Networks Study (2015–2018), which followed young (aged 21–30 years) and late middle-aged (aged 50–70 years) adults over 4 years. Weighted hybrid fixed and random effects models (completed in 2020) were used to examine the causal relationships among 4 negative life events, distinct forms of network support (e.g., social companionship, emergency help), and self-reported chronic cardiometabolic disease outcomes (i.e., hypertension, diabetes, or a heart condition). Among young adults, both the death of a close tie (average marginal effect=0.10, p