Moderation of financial stress and cardiovascular disease risk in black catholics: A social-ecological pathway utilizing latent class and structural equation analyses

Ninety percent (90.6%) of low-income Black Catholics fell below the national averages for Mental Component Summary scores. Chronic financial stress explained nearly half of this mental-health disparity (η² = 0.489)-evidence that upstream burdens, not individual pathology, drive downstream outcomes. For Black Catholics, chronic financial stress and racial discrimination-rather than generalized stress (PSS) or isolated mental-health scores-emerge as the most salient yet under-recognized moderators of chronic financial-stress risk. These findings call into question the adequacy of conventional stress models and underscore the need for upstream, equity-driven interventions. Public health strategies must advance upstream structural interventions to counter systemic forces sustaining financial stress and CVD risk.