Pretending There's No Racism Hurts Kids
Tue Dec 7, 2:30 PM ET Health - Reuters & Yahoo News
By Alison McCook
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - African-American
preschoolers whose parents say they don't believe
racism is a problem are more likely to be depressed or
anxious, a new study indicates.
Racism is a reality," lead author Dr. Margaret O'Brien
Caughy said. "It does have impact on very young
children. And we have to acknowledge that," she noted.
Caughy said that there are many reasons why young
children may become anxious if their parents deny the
existence of racism. For one thing, parents who
experience racism but don't acknowledge it may be
anxious or depressed themselves, and pass that onto
their children, she noted.
Otherwise, young children may witness signs of racism
around them, and become upset when their parents'
opinions don't match their experience.
"If (children) see in their day-to-day lives that
racism is real, but their parents don't acknowledge
it, could that create anxiety?" Caughy asked.
Traditionally, people who report they have experienced
racism are more likely to have problems with their
physical or mental health. In order to investigate
whether denying instances of discrimination hurts
health even more, Caughy and her team interviewed 200
African-American families with children aged 3 or 4.
Caughy, who is based at the University of Texas Health
Sciences Center in Dallas, along with her colleagues,
asked parents how often they experienced racism and
how they coped with it, then measured children's
behavior.
Approximately 7 percent of parents denied that racism
was a problem for their friends and family, the
authors report in the American Journal of Public
Health.
In an interview with Reuters Health, Caughy explained
that parents who said they didn't think racism was a
problem for African-Americans in general were more
likely to have young children with problems such as
anxiety or depression.
She noted that parents who denied that they had
experienced racism personally were no more likely to
have children with these problems, and denying racism
in general did not increase kids' risk of so-called
"externalizing" behavior problems, such as aggression
or acting out.
Although the team did not measure whether or not
people had actually experienced racism, research
suggests that 90 percent of African-Americans who say
they are not discriminated against indeed are,
according to objective measurements.
Parents who responded to racism by confronting the
people involved or taking some kind of action were
less likely to report that their children had behavior
problems.
The findings suggest that parents should try to talk
to children about racism, on a level they can
understand, Caughy said. "Acknowledging it, that it's
real ... and then trying to help children develop
realistic coping skills" appears to do the most good,
she noted.
Tue Dec 7, 2:30 PM ET Health - Reuters & Yahoo News
By Alison McCook
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - African-American
preschoolers whose parents say they don't believe
racism is a problem are more likely to be depressed or
anxious, a new study indicates.
Racism is a reality," lead author Dr. Margaret O'Brien
Caughy said. "It does have impact on very young
children. And we have to acknowledge that," she noted.
Caughy said that there are many reasons why young
children may become anxious if their parents deny the
existence of racism. For one thing, parents who
experience racism but don't acknowledge it may be
anxious or depressed themselves, and pass that onto
their children, she noted.
Otherwise, young children may witness signs of racism
around them, and become upset when their parents'
opinions don't match their experience.
"If (children) see in their day-to-day lives that
racism is real, but their parents don't acknowledge
it, could that create anxiety?" Caughy asked.
Traditionally, people who report they have experienced
racism are more likely to have problems with their
physical or mental health. In order to investigate
whether denying instances of discrimination hurts
health even more, Caughy and her team interviewed 200
African-American families with children aged 3 or 4.
Caughy, who is based at the University of Texas Health
Sciences Center in Dallas, along with her colleagues,
asked parents how often they experienced racism and
how they coped with it, then measured children's
behavior.
Approximately 7 percent of parents denied that racism
was a problem for their friends and family, the
authors report in the American Journal of Public
Health.
In an interview with Reuters Health, Caughy explained
that parents who said they didn't think racism was a
problem for African-Americans in general were more
likely to have young children with problems such as
anxiety or depression.
She noted that parents who denied that they had
experienced racism personally were no more likely to
have children with these problems, and denying racism
in general did not increase kids' risk of so-called
"externalizing" behavior problems, such as aggression
or acting out.
Although the team did not measure whether or not
people had actually experienced racism, research
suggests that 90 percent of African-Americans who say
they are not discriminated against indeed are,
according to objective measurements.
Parents who responded to racism by confronting the
people involved or taking some kind of action were
less likely to report that their children had behavior
problems.
The findings suggest that parents should try to talk
to children about racism, on a level they can
understand, Caughy said. "Acknowledging it, that it's
real ... and then trying to help children develop
realistic coping skills" appears to do the most good,
she noted.
