A new study recently suggested that teenage individuals who grew up in poverty are experiencing signs of higher stress levels than those economically secured households, showing that public policy programs helping alleviate poverty can enhance physical and psychological health even during pre-adulthood.
According to the lead author of the study, Lisa Johnson, if these families are boosted out of poverty "in that window of adolescence," it is perhaps, that this may shield them from having health issues later and probably lessen the chances of them developing depression, and even reducing the risk of suicide farther down the line."
According to a Medical Xpress report, the study is carried out by the University of California, Davis, Healthy Emotions and Relationships Development Lab.
In continuing longitudinal research, the authors examined the saliva of more than 220 17-year-old individuals, many of whom had spent their lives at or lower than the poverty line when they were aged 10 to 16 years, for their cortisol levels. Cortisol is a hormone in the blood that can be found, for example, in hair or saliva.
This is also the common metric for gauging the level of stress. The testing was conducted in the years before the COVID-19 crisis.
Cortisol Levels Analyzed
Johnson explained, decades of research have previously presented that poverty in children has led to downstream health problems over time, although this research looked particularly at how the body is responding to stress.
The study investigators analyzed the levels of cortisol after participants went through a social stressor. Cortisol usually raises the succeeding stress.
Unusual cortisol release patterns can specify that the body is overtaxed in a stressful scenario, and it cannot normally respond, added Johnson.
This report said research subjects belonged to a subgroup of a bigger UC Davis cohort of families of Mexican origin, an underrepresented group in research.
In addition, a large body of research is identified as the California Families Project and comprises a prospective, longitudinal study developed to investigate developmental risks and resilience factors.
Latinx Teens' Increased Psychological Stress
Latin teens, specifically, are an ideal group for such a study as they comprise over 50 percent of the population below 18 years old in California and are a group that lacks resources.
Johnson explained, it is essential to have more studies on this group. They are greatly underrepresented in neurobiological studies but are overrepresented in the contexts of poverty. More so, they are also subject to constructional and systemic racism. In general, they have poor access to services that could support them.
The research presented that even families whose financial conditions had enhanced over time presented an unusual low-stress reaction when gauging their cortisol levels, illustrating that the impacts reach past the years an individual is poor, she elaborated.
Those examined exhibited blunted cortisol levels in response to stressful circumstances, a condition that was simulated with an online game.
Johnson explained further; a blunted stress reaction can specify the body is overwhelmed and cannot meet the immediate situation's energetic demands. Over time, this can result in disorders in both mental and physical health, she elaborated.
The study, Patterns of poverty across adolescence predict salivary cortisol stress responses in Mexican-origin youths, is published in the Psychoneuroendocrinology journal.
Related information about depression in adolescents is shown on Anna Freud NCCF's YouTube video below:
Check out more news and information on Mental Health and Depression in Science Times.
