Mental Health News: New research indicates that young Latinx adults worrying about their heart health could be at greater risk for mental health disorders. Heart-focused anxiety among that group is a significant predictor of depression.
Researchers at University of Houston investigated Latinx young adults with previous trauma related to racism and transgenerational stress. This population is also suffering from a lot of physical health problems and comorbidities like heart disease and obesity and tend to blame mental health issues on physical ailments.
Mental health care services are limited or nonexistent among Latinx populations. Unlike non-Latinx whites, Latinx people underutilize mental health services and fail to successfully address mental health problems.
The research team examined reports from 169 college aged, Latinx college students with experiences of trauma. Results published in the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, indicated heart-focused anxiety was a statistically significant predictor for general depression and overall anxiety.
The new study has important implications in the development of specialized intervention strategies to lower heart-focused anxiety, which can decrease the risk for a whole range of mental health problems in this population.
To Know More, You May Refer To:
Mayorga, N.A., Shepherd, J.M., Garey, L. et al. Heart-Focused Anxiety Among Trauma-Exposed Latinx Young Adults: Relations to General Depression, Suicidality, Anxious Arousal, and Social Anxiety. J. Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-021-01054-z
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