Unlocking Population-Specific Treatments to Render Equitable Approaches and Management in Cardiovascular Disease: Development of a Situation-Specific Theory for African American Emerging Adults.

Background: Emerging adulthood (18-25 years old) is a distinct developmental period in which multiple life transitions pose barriers to engaging in healthy lifestyle behaviors that reduce cardiovascular disease risk. There is limited theory-based research on African American emerging adults.

Objective: This article introduces a synthesized empirically testable situation-specific theory for cardiovascular disease prevention in African American emerging adults.