Previous research has established that childhood experience with abuse, neglect, and substance use in the home can worsen a person’s heart health throughout their life. New research, however, shows that receiving consistent warmth from a caregiver during childhood protects cardiovascular health later in life, according to a study led by NYU Grossman School of Medicine and The Ohio State University Wexler Medical Center. The findings, published online January 23 in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, are the first to frame adversity and protective factors across a large group when it comes to cardiovascular health over time, the researchers say. Given that cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of death in the United States, with Black adults more than twice as likely to die from CVD than White adults, the study cohort included individuals identifying as Black and White. “We know that mitigating risk factors for cardiovascular disease must begin in childhood,” said the study’s lead author, Robin Ortiz, MD, assistant professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Population Health at NYU Langone, and a core faculty member at the Institute for Excellence in Health Equity. “At the same time, our findings show that adversity in early childhood does not equal destiny. While adverse childhood family environments were associated with lower odds of cardiovascular health in adulthood, our findings suggest that supportive and, importantly, stable and consistent caregiving may have a stronger influence on later heart health than early adversity.” How the Study Was Conducted The team of researchers analyzed a sample of more than 2,000 enrollees in the CARDIA study, a long-term study of cardiovascular disease risk beginning in young adulthood that has been following more than 5,000 Black and White adults for over 35 years to help researchers understand which early life factors raise the risk of CVD later in life. The investigators analyze