4 Troubled Teens Blog

Children who experience poverty at very young ages have a harder time as teenagers, according to a new study from Iowa State University Institute for Social and Behavioral Research.

Early "socio-economic adversity" affects later mental health, making it harder for a teenager to transition successfully into adulthood, according to the decade-long study of 500 families from Iowa.

Dr. K.A.S. Wickrama, professor of human development and author of the study, said that one of his main findings is that early family adversity is linked to depression in adolescents, making it harder for them to successfully transition into adulthood and reach their full potential socially, academically, and occupationally. This effect increases if a child also experiences disruptive events along with poverty.

Dr. Wickrama said his work indicates that poverty is passed down from one generation to the next through such mechanisms as adolescent depression.

This study appears in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

Labels: depression, mental_health, poverty

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A study from Tufts University and the Universite de Montreal found that teens from poor neighborhoods are four times more likely to attempt suicide than are those from more affluent areas.

"We observed that community adversity could amplify a young person's vulnerability to consider suicide," wrote study author Eric LaCrosse.

The researchers also found other risk factors in poor teens, including hyperactivity, impulsivity, depression, substance abuse, family history of suicide, low levels of social support, and negative life events such as the death of a parent or a painful romantic break-up.

The research team surveyed 2779 teens in early adolescence and then again at ages 18 or 19 years old, asking them questions such as, "During the past year, did you seriously think about attempting suicide? If so, how many times did you attempt suicide in the past year?"

Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people ages ten to 24 years old. According to guidelines from the Mayo Clinic, signs of suicide in teenagers are depression, low energy and motivation, anger or rage, oversensitivity to criticism, poor grades, decreased concentration, changes in sleep or eating habits, restlessness, talking about death, cessation of regular activities, and withdrawal from friends and family.

This study appeared in the journal Psychological Medicine.

Labels: suicide, depression, poverty

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