underlying cause

I think this is an underlying cause that later triggers violence.

Any analysis of political chaos must begin and end with the underlying economic causes that drive people to violence.

This was deemed to be an underlying cause of the accident.

There's an underlying cause here, but I can't test for it with this field in place.

It is often a secondary reaction to an underlying physical cause.

He wanted to believe there was some underlying physical cause, something easily adjusted with medication.

It can be an underlying cause of memory or mood problems.

Anger can be an underlying cause of mental health issues.

But that was merely the beginning of the crisis, not its underlying cause.