Psychosocial Programs for Black Families May Mitigate Mental Health Effects of Racial Discrimination

Discussion Quality Scale.Adolescents assigned to SAAF –T and AIM who had experienced frequent discrimination exhibited fewer conduct problems at follow-up than did youth assigned to the control group in both trials. Those in the AIM program who experienced frequent discrimination also exhibited less depression and anxiety symptoms than those in the c ontrol group.“[M]ore supportive parents may be better able to establish strategies that enhance their children’s emotion regulation for coping with racial discrimination,” the researchers wrote. “This in turn may have reduced the physiological and psychological effects of racial discrimination that can i nfluence mental health. To our knowledge, this is the first study to show that family-centered prevention was associated with buffering the effects of racial discrimination on adolescents’ mental health.”For related information, see thePsychiatric News article “Trauma of Racism Has Long-Term Impact on Health. ”(Image: iStock/fizkes)Help APA Fight for Improved Reimbursement: Take Insurance SurveyAPA advocates on behalf of psychiatrists to increase reimbursements from health plans, legislators, and regulatory agencies. To ensure APA is well equipped to fight for improved payment for clinical services, we need to know more about the nature of your outpatient practice and experience in the health plan networks in which you participate.TAKE SURVEYDon't miss out! To learn about newly posted articles inPsychiatric News...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: adolescents anxiety conduct disorder depression family program JAMA Network Open mental health effects racism Source Type: research