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Race-Related Traumatic Events Online and Mental Health Among Adolescents of Color

Research Article Review

Lauren Floyd

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Main Research Questions

  • Are traumatic online experiences linked to mental health?
    • Is there an association between depressive symptoms and viewing race-related traumatic events online?
    • Is there an association between PTSD and viewing race-related traumatic events online?

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  • Hypothesized:
    • Both would have a positive association

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Research Methods

  • National Online Survey with Randomly Selected Panel
    • 302 African American and Latinx/Hispanic youth
    • Between 11 and 19 years
      • Average age of 14.89 years
    • Residents of the U.S.
    • 165 male (54.6%) and 137 female (45.4%)
    • Range of socioeconomic backgrounds
  • Multiple Regression Analysis were administered
    • Covariates: age, sex, ethnicity, and household income

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Research Methods, Continued

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Survey Measures

  • Traumatic events online
    • Frequency rated from 0 = never to 5 = every day
  • Depressive symptoms
    • Answer range 0-8
  • PTSD symptoms
    • Yes or no
    • Then range of 0-3

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Results/Main Findings

  • Significant Association
    • The more frequent the exposure of Traumatic Events Online the higher levels of PTSD and Depression symptoms
  • Girls rates of PTSD and depression were higher than boys
  • Latinx participants had the highest depressive symptoms
  • Overall Hypothesis Proved Correct
  • online environments may inhibit or undermine the development of emotional abilities

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Data Collection

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Personal Reaction

I was very interested in this article, because I am really interested in mental health and cognition. This is a aspect of racism that was new to me and I had never really thought about. This current generation of adolescents has more access to the internet and violet content more than any generation before. The fact that adolescence of color are experiencing this second-hand racism that is leading to PTSD and Depressive symptoms is heartbreaking. No one should have to experience seeing brutal attacks of people especially when their mental health is suffering.

Personally I think there needs to be prevention and deletion of videos like this; even though I know it would be extremely difficult. However, these are the minds of the future generation running society at stake.

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Reference

  • Tynes, B. M., Willis, H. A., Stewart, A. M., & Hamilton, M. W. (2019). Race-Related Traumatic Events Online and Mental Health Among Adolescents of Color. Journal of Adolescent Health, 65(3), 371-377. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2019.03.006

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Thank You!

I highly recommend this article. It was so interesting!