Young adults in a 20-year-long study shed light on what matters for mental health of ethnic diverse youth
Study sets the stage to learn about development of psychopathology and resilience among ethnically diverse children growing up in low resource contexts
Washington, DC, March 16, 2021 - A study in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP), published by Elsevier, reports on the young adult assessment of the now 20-year longitudinal Boricua Youth Study (BYS), a large cohort that brings much needed insight about development and mental health of children from diverse ethnic background growing up in disadvantaged contexts.
The present article, with its companion report on prevalence of conditions and associated factors, provides an update on the study's fourth wave, which follows-up two probability-based population samples of children of Puerto Rican heritage. Unique to the study is its two-site design, which allows for comparison of a single ethnic group in two contexts: one in which the group is an ethnic minority living in an disadvantaged area (South Bronx, NY); and another where though challenges are many, children do not grow up being part of an ethnic minority group (San Juan, Puerto Rico).
"The BYS provides a unique opportunity to understand developmental processes relevant to young adults who are not easily included in clinical, school, internet or telephone-based studies," said lead author Cristiane Duarte, PhD, MPH, Ruane Professor at the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York. "By focusing on an underserved ethnic group (Puerto Ricans), whose risk for future psychiatric disorders has been well documented in the USA, we add relevant information to a rich tradition of population-based longitudinal studies that have informed our knowledge of developmental psychopathology."
Children have been followed since the year 2000, when the original 2,491 participants were between the ages of 5 to 13 years old. Young adults were re-assessed on average 11.3 years after the last study contact, with retention of more than 80 percent of the original sample. The current article presents the cohort composition during young adulthood as it pertains to survival, mobility, parental involvement and other parameters that are crucial to the understanding of developmental psychopathology processes but are not frequently captured by more selective studies.
Hoping to help advance the field, the paper also provides detailed descriptions of methods and measures used, plus strategies utilized to engage and retain a low-income ethnically diverse cohort. The main aim of the first three waves of the study, initiated by Drs. Bird and Canino at the turn of the 21st century was to investigate development, specifically related to antisocial behaviors at the two study sites.
Co-author Glorisa Canino, PhD, Professor at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico, said: "The study included the ascertainment of a wide array of putative risk factors that could be related to differences across contexts. After the completion of the first three waves, the question remained as to whether similar patterns observed in childhood would persist into late adolescence and early adulthood."
The risks threatening the positive development of Puerto Rican youth and other diverse racial/ethnic youth, living in disadvantaged contexts, are now likely being compounded by number of relevant factors. These include the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on underserved racial/ethnic minorities; a prolonged economic depression; and a recent major natural disaster (Hurricane Maria) together with the long-term experiences of discrimination and structural racism that have afflicted these same families for centuries.
The BYS gathers data from childhood through young adulthood on areas such as family relationships, cultural stress and psychiatric disorders, with the addition of domains specific to late adolescence and young adulthood (e.g., sexual risk behaviors, substance use, and financial independence). As such, the study is poised to answer questions that are important to the lived experiences of this ethnic group as they might pertain to mental health and has the capacity to assess the role of context and gender in these associations.
"This study is distinctive and even more relevant today as we unpack the role of minority status in the development of Latinx youth," said co-author Margarita Alegria, PhD Professor, Harvard University. "This represents a unique opportunity to identify assets and risks of Latinx youths' mental health as they transition to emerging adults."
Of note, currently Hector Bird, MD, study co-author states, "The retention of over 80 percent of a sample of children, now young adults, seen more than ten years after the last encounter, has been remarkable. We sincerely hope that the current readers and those of years to come will benefit from the results of this work both in informing epidemiologic methodology as well as from the implications of the findings for the mental health of Puerto Rican and other ethnic groups."
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Notes for editors
The article is "Developmental Psychopathology and Ethnicity I: The Young Adulthood Assessment of the Boricua Youth Study," by Cristiane S. Duarte, PhD, Glorisa J. Canino, PhD, Margarita Alegria, PhD, Maria A. Ramos-Olazagasti, PhD, Doryliz Vila, MS, Patricia Miranda, MPH, Vijah Ramjattan, BA, Kiara Alvarez, PhD, George J. Musa, PhD, Katherine Elkington, PhD, Melanie Wall, PhD, Sheri Lapatin, MIA, Hector Bird, MD (https:/
Copies of this paper are available to credentialed journalists upon request; please contact the JAACAP Editorial Office at support@jaacap.org">support@jaacap.org or +1 202 587 9674. Journalists wishing to interview the authors may contact Gregory Flynn at gregory.flynn@nyspi.columbia.edu">gregory.flynn@nyspi.columbia.edu.
The study was supported by grants from the National Institute of Health (DA033172 and MH098374).
Investigators are in the process of assessing the next generation Puerto Rican children born out of the original cohort participants as part of the US National NIH program ECHO (Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes). Find out more by visiting the ECHO homepage.
About JAACAP
Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP) is the official publication of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. JAACAP is the leading journal focusing exclusively on today's psychiatric research and treatment of the child and adolescent. Published twelve times per year, each issue is committed to its mission of advancing the science of pediatric mental health and promoting the care of youth and their families.
The Journal's purpose is to advance research, clinical practice, and theory in child and adolescent psychiatry. It is interested in manuscripts from diverse viewpoints, including genetic, epidemiological, neurobiological, cognitive, behavioral, psychodynamic, social, cultural, and economic. Studies of diagnostic reliability and validity, psychotherapeutic and psychopharmacological treatment efficacy, and mental health services effectiveness are encouraged. The Journal also seeks to promote the well-being of children and families by publishing scholarly papers on such subjects as health policy, legislation, advocacy, culture and society, and service provision as they pertain to the mental health of children and families. http://www.
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+1 202 587 9674
support@jaacap.org">support@jaacap.org
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