A new study is showing that high-stress levels within Black families are linked with depression in youth. The Black community has faced struggles that are not understood or experienced by many others, and these struggles can play a large part in the mental health of the youth. Studies are important to dive into the deeper roots and causes of this stress because without knowing what is causing it, it is impossible to begin to understand what resources and steps can help. That is why it is so important that work continues to be done with this community.

According to Medical Xpress, a new study was done that shows that when family stress was high within a Black family, their teenagers may have a higher chance of struggling with depression. This study was completed by the University of Georgia, and it can be read in full here.

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The research is suggesting that the stress a family can face from economic hardships can harm a youth’s mental health. The team wanted to look for possible issues that are leading to poverty and poor mental health to help break the cycle that is seen within the community for families.

To complete the study, they followed 472 Black families over a period of 4 years. They started when the children were just 11 years old. They would visit the families once a year and they were asked to fill out detailed surveys about their lives. They asked them about their personal struggles and stress, mental health, and much more. The results were called “alarming,” and they found that 45% of caregivers and more than half of all youth had high depressive symptoms. Their symptoms included sadness, hopelessness, and a loss of interest in usual activities.

Ava Reck was the lead author and she stated that high lives of stress can make parenting children incredibly difficult and they now have to look at how to develop programs and policies to help these communities. They also found that family stress was linked to an increase in family arguing and unresolved conflict between parents and their adolescent children. This meant that youth had reported an inability to regulate their own emotions, which has already been known to be a precursor to developing depression. The research team believes that the first step to addressing this is by instituting more family programs to help these families who are struggling and that more needs to be done to fix the wealth gap and end poverty.

Sources: Medical Xpress, Journal of Adolescent Health