Experiencing Racism During Your Teens Is Bad For Your Health
Feb 05, 2014 00:34
If this isn't a good enough reason to eliminate racism in our world, we don't know what is. Recent research shows that people who experience racism early in life may have a higher risk of
developing all sorts of health problems.
For the study, researchers at the University of Georgia assessed 331 African American teens living in the rural South. The participants were asked to rate the frequency of which they experience racial discrimination, slurs, insults, false accusations and physical threats.
When the teens turned 20, the researchers discovered that a small percentage of them showed an increase in the biological effects of stress, which placed them at greater risk for developing complicated health problems later in life, including chronic disease.
Interestingly, teens who received emotional support from their parents did not seem to show the biological effects of stress, indicating that supportive parental relationships could acts as "a protective barrier from stress-changing biology."
For the study, researchers at the University of Georgia assessed 331 African American teens living in the rural South. The participants were asked to rate the frequency of which they experience racial discrimination, slurs, insults, false accusations and physical threats.
When the teens turned 20, the researchers discovered that a small percentage of them showed an increase in the biological effects of stress, which placed them at greater risk for developing complicated health problems later in life, including chronic disease.
Interestingly, teens who received emotional support from their parents did not seem to show the biological effects of stress, indicating that supportive parental relationships could acts as "a protective barrier from stress-changing biology."
