Young Black men face unique neighborhood-level barriers to maintaining cardiovascular health, with economic opportunity emerging as the most critical factor, according to new research published in the American Journal of Men’s Health.
Researchers conducted a participatory study with 30 Black men aged 18 to 34 living in majority Black communities across one southeastern state. Participants used concept mapping to identify neighborhood characteristics that influence their ability to maintain healthy cardiovascular behaviors, including proper diet, healthy weight, sufficient physical activity, and tobacco avoidance.
The study revealed 45 distinct neighborhood features grouped into eight conceptual clusters. Participants ranked Economic Opportunity and Health Choices as the most important factors for achieving cardiovascular health behaviors. In contrast, Economic Stressors and Environmental Stressors received the lowest importance ratings.
The neighborhood environment is increasingly recognized as a crucial social determinant of cardiovascular health, particularly for Black populations who face disproportionate disease burden. Cardiovascular health refers to both health behaviors and clinical factors that help prevent cardiovascular disease, which affects Black communities at higher rates than other populations.
Pattern matching analysis showed that average cluster ratings remained relatively similar across different city types and neighborhood racial compositions, though some nuanced differences emerged between metropolitan areas and smaller cities, as well as between predominantly Black neighborhoods and more racially diverse ones.
This participant-driven research process underscores how neighborhood environments can either foster or undermine cardiovascular health behaviors for young Black men, highlighting the social and economic roots of persistent racial health disparities in cardiovascular disease outcomes.
See: “Neighborhood Influences on Cardiovascular Health: A Concept Mapping Study With Young Black Men Living in Southern Black Communities” (February 6, 2026)
