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Methods: Data for this study were drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (1979-2016). Three self-reported racial/ethnic groups were examined: Non-Hispanic White, Non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic. The final analytic sample was 8,773. The primary dependent variables were the child behavior problem index (BPI). We constructed a median-dichotomized standardized BPI measure in addition to using the antisocial subscale and depression/anxiety subscales. Parental wealth, defined as net worth, was a time-varying variable calculated as assets minus debt, adjusting for inflation. We further created net worth quartiles within each racial/ethnic groups. To account for the within-person and within-household clustering effects, three-level logistic regression was used. We first conducted the analyses using the whole sample, followed by subgroup analyses by race/ethnicity.

Results: Nearly 42% of the non-Hispanic black respondents were in debt or had zero net worth and had the lowest level of net worth compared to other racial/ethnic groups. Wealth was significantly, negatively associated with all of the BPI indicators. Compared to Non-Hispanic Whites, Hispanic children were less likely to have an above-median total BPI score (OR=.740, 95% CI .592-.925); Non-Hispanic Black children were more likely to have an above-median antisocial score (OR=1.533, 95% CI 1.311-1.792); Non-Hispanic black children were less likely to have an above-median anxiety/depression score (OR=.737, 95% CI .634-.857). For Non-Hispanic white children, greater wealth was significantly associated with lower odds of having poor behavior outcomes, compared to those in the lowest wealth quartile. For Non-Hispanic Black children, wealth was only protective against the three different behavioral problem indicators among those in the highest wealth quartile. There were no significant associations between parental wealth and child behavior problems for Hispanic children.

Data were drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1997), which consists of a nationally representative sample of 8,984 youth who were aged 12 to 16 years in 1997. Using hierarchical generalized linear models, ordinary least square regressions, and binary logistic regressions, this dissertation comprises three empirical papers investigating racial/ethnic differences in the relationship between wealth and health. The first paper examines the racial/ethnic differences in the time-varying wealth-health associations during young adulthood from age 20 to 30. The second paper examines racial/ethnic heterogeneity in the relationship between parental wealth and substance use behaviors, including cigarette smoking, heavy episodic drinking, and use of cannabis. The third paper examines how US adults' wealth components (financial assets, nonfinancial assets, secured debt, and unsecured debt) at age 30 were associated with physical and mental health at ages 30-36, as well as if the associations differed by race/ethnicity.

Overall, positive relationships were found between wealth and health. Adding wealth significantly attenuates the association between income, education, and racial/ethnic differences in health. Significant racial/ethnic heterogeneities were found across three studies. Together, these three papers offer a more nuanced understanding of the complex relationship among race/ethnicity, wealth, and health. The findings could inform inclusive, progressive asset-building policies, racial/ethnic tailored public health interventions, as well as wealth and health integrated services.

Method: Data were drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 with three time points, when respondents were aged 20, 25, and 30. The primary dependent variable was dichotomized self-rated health (SRH). Two indices of wealth were calculated: respondents' own reported net worth and reported parental net worth in 1997. Other SEP indicators included household income, education, employment status, and parental education. Three racial/ethnic groups were examined: non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic. Two-level logistic regression was performed, stratified by race/ethnicity.

Results: In the whole-sample analysis, racial/ethnic differences in SRH were not statistically significant, after controlling for wealth. For self-reported net worth during young adulthood, wealth has a incremental consistent effect on health among non-Hispanic White respondents and Hispanic respondents but not among Black respondents. Individual net worth and parental net worth were only significantly associated with health