Story outline
- For teenagers, optimism and happiness were associated with cardiometabolic health years later, along with feelings of self-esteem, belonging, and being loved.
- The associations between these positive emotions and health were particularly strong among black youth.
- Researchers suggest that investing in mental health among young people may help improve cardiometabolic inequities.
Teenagers who feel belonging, loved, wanted, optimistic and happy may have lower cardiometabolic health risks in adulthood compared with teenagers who experience less of these positive emotions. There is a nature. new research Published on Wednesday.
Only 12% of young adults maintained good cardio-metabolic health over time, but teens who reported feeling more positive emotions remained healthy as young adults 69% more likely to do so.
The effect was also cumulative. For every positive emotion a teenager reported, he increased his chances of being healthy in the future by 12%.
Data show that this association is particularly pronounced among black youth, who report feeling the most positive emotions and gaining the most health benefits from it.
Researchers suggest that positive emotions may act as a buffer against the negative effects of social stress that teens often experience.
America is changing faster than ever!Adding You to Changing America Facebook Also twitter A feed to keep you on top of the news.
“Assets such as optimism and other aspects of psychological health predict more health-promoting behaviors across multiple domains, including physical activity, diet, and tobacco use,” they wrote in the study.
Results suggest that cultivating these positive emotions in adolescents not only helps prevent cardiometabolic disease, but may also address health inequalities.
Study author Farah Qureshi, an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Public School, said, “In the past few decades, discrimination against young people of color may explain the rising incidence of cardiometabolic disease. We have learned a lot about the impact of social risks and other societal risks.” Baltimore health statement.
However, “less attention has been given to the inherent strengths they have and how to leverage those strengths to improve health equity,” says Qureshi. We wanted to shift the public health paradigm from a traditional deficit focus to one focused on building resources.”
Data were collected from approximately 3,500 high school students who were first enrolled in the National Longitudinal Study in 1994. Participants were followed for more than 20 years, the most recent data he collected in 2018, the average age of participants was 38 years old.
A study conducted when participants were teenagers found that the five positive mental health assets associated with improved health were optimism, well-being, self-esteem, belonging, and feelings of being loved. .
Researchers compared survey responses to measurements of cardiovascular and metabolic disease risk factors, such as blood sugar levels and inflammation, collected when participants were in their late 20s and 30s.
The greatest health benefits associated with positive emotions were found in black teenagers, but these individuals were least likely to maintain good cardiometabolic health over time. .
Qureshi described the finding as somewhat counterintuitive, pointing out that the lack of positive emotions is especially detrimental to the health of black youth.
“Black youth face many barriers to achieving and maintaining optimal cardiometabolic health in adulthood—not having these additional mental health resources makes a big difference.” Findings from this study show that early investment in mental health among young people may help improve equity in cardiometabolic health.
In America, black Americans 60 percent They are more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes than whites, and black Americans are twice as likely to die from diabetes.
Structural racism plays a major role in shaping these health inequalitiesHowever, fostering a sense of belonging and optimism may help protect young people from the negative effects of systemic racism, the authors said.
