The phrase "a central cause of" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to indicate a primary reason or factor contributing to a particular situation or outcome.
Example: "The researchers identified a central cause of the decline in bee populations as the widespread use of pesticides."
Alternatives: "a primary factor in" or "a key reason for".
That, indeed, was a central cause of the crisis.
Such mortgages have been a central cause of the current market problems.
Crack was a central cause of crime in the 1980's.
Mr. Obama has said that "service will be a central cause of his presidency," Mr. Khazei said.
A number of academic energy analysts, and FirstEnergy itself, have contended that a lack of reactive power was a central cause of the blackout.
First, a central cause of human rights violations was the proliferation of secret laws that immunized government conduct, avoided accountability and corroded the foundations of our democracy.
For LeanIn.org, Ms. Bianchini, who is listed as one of the group's founders, changed the software so that it could create subgroups that refer to a central cause, while aspects of the initiative are locally managed.
BEHIND THE NEWS The deep slump in the housing market is both a central cause and a central effect of the credit crisis and the economic slowdown it is driving.
"The Palestinian cause is a central cause; it's a builder of legitimacy and a basis for everything else," said Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma.
Bilateral VCP is indicative of a central cause in the medulla oblongata [8].
John Schiller, Senior Investigator at the National Cancer Institute, said "Discovering that a virus is the central cause of a cancer provides an exceptional opportunity to prevent cancer by preventing the initiating virus infection.
