Parental emotional support and social buffering in previously institutionalized and typically developing children and adolescents

Responsive parental support buffers the link between chronic stress and cardiometabolic risk among adolescents

Youth exposed to chronic stress exhibit increased cardiometabolic risk which parental social support may attenuate. Notably, theories emphasize that support should be delivered responsively for it to exert buffering effects, but this has not been thoroughly tested empirically. This study examined whether timing of support is an important but unrecognized element of responsiveness during adolescence in buffering the link between chronic stress and cardiometabolic risk. Participants were 242 adolescents aged 15 years (63 % female, 38 % Black). Adolescents completed assessments of chronic stress (Life Stress Interview), and trained personnel collected anthropometric measures and blood samples to assess cardiometabolic risk (reflected in low-grade inflammation and metabolic syndrome). Adolescents also completed an eight-day diary assessment to report daily stressor exposure and parental support. Using the diary data, responsiveness of parental support was operationalized as the within-individual difference in parental support received on stressor (vs. non-stressor) days, such that increased parental support on stressor days reflected more timely support. Results suggest that responsive parental support buffered the link between chronic stress and cardiovascular risk. Specifically, chronic stress was associated with greater risk only when parental support was not temporally aligned with stress exposure, but this association was not observed among adolescents who received timely parental support. These findings shed light on why parental support may not always exert buffering effects during adolescence, highlighting the importance of taking a developmental approach to understanding protective effects.

A review of mental health disparities during COVID-19: Evidence, mechanisms, and policy recommendations for promoting societal resilience

Social and economic inequality are chronic stressors that continually erode the mental and physical health of marginalized groups, undermining overall societal resilience. In this comprehensive review, we synthesize evidence of greater increases in mental health symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic among socially or economically marginalized groups in the United States, including (a) people who are low income or experiencing homelessness, (b) racial and ethnic minorities, (c) women and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ+) communities, (d) immigrants and migrants, (e) children and people with a history of childhood adversity, and (f) the socially isolated and lonely. Based on this evidence, we propose that reducing social and economic inequality would promote population mental health and societal resilience to future crises. Specifically, we propose concrete, actionable recommendations for policy, intervention, and practice that would bolster five "pillars" of societal resilience: (1) economic safety and equity, (2) accessible healthcare, including mental health services, (3) combating racial injustice and promoting respect for diversity, equity, and inclusion, (4) child and family protection services, and (5) social cohesion. Although the recent pandemic exposed and accentuated steep inequalities within our society, efforts to rebuild offer the opportunity to re-envision societal resilience and policy to reduce multiple forms of inequality for our collective benefit.

Does weight impact adolescent mental health? Evidence from China

In this paper, we examine the causal impact of weight on adolescent mental health. Using the China Family Panel Studies, we find significant negative effects of adolescent weight, instrumented by cohort-level parental body mass index (BMI), on mental illness. In particular, a one standard deviation increase in adolescent BMI z-score decreases the K6 score by 0.766 (or 0.232 standard deviations). This finding is contrary to recent evidence from adults. We find this contrast can partly be explained by the different impacts of adolescent weight on self-image and social relationships. Unlike adults, heavy adolescents feel that they are popular among peers in China.