Report Publish Date: September 26, 2023

This journal article describes a study examining the relationship between Black children’s mental health and their families’ access to material resources (like health care and money) and experiences of discrimination during the pandemic.

Primary Takeaways

n Black families that reported inadequate health resources and economic hardship during the pandemic, caregivers were more likely to report that children were frequently fussy, defiant, anxious, or fearful.

Caregivers’ experiences of discrimination did not seem to be related to children’s behavior. But when caregivers worried more about their children’s experiences of discrimination, their children were more likely to have outward behaviors like fussiness or defiance.

Overview and Objectives

Research has found that having material resources, like health insurance and stable income, is related to better mental health for children. During the pandemic, many families went through hard times and did not have access to healthcare that they needed. This was more pronounced among Black families. The authors wanted to know if there was a relationship between material resources and Black children’s behavior during the pandemic.
 

Hypothesis or Approach 

The authors drew data from the University of Oregon’s Rapid Assessment of Pandemic Impact on Development–Early Childhood study, or RAPID-EC, a regular survey of households with children five years old and younger during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The researchers analyzed data collected from 704 Black families between April 2020 and November 2020.
 

How This Influences Change

“Addressing the challenges faced by young Black children and their families requires attending to social policies that impact their daily lives from housing, education, and labor, policies that impact families’ socioeconomic position and upward mobility,” the authors write.