

Youth mental health: Racial trauma and stress
What are the largest threats to mental health facing modern teens? And how can parents, educators, and other adults help them thrive despite their challenges?
On this episode of School’s In, hosts Dan Schwartz and Denise Pope welcome Assistant Professor Farzana (Saleem) Adjah to discuss racial trauma and stress and the effect that it has on student mental health. Adjah covers several relevant topics, including:
- How trauma and racial bias shows up in schools
- How educators can adopt a culturally-responsive, trauma-informed lens when interacting with students
- What research-backed, group-based interventions help promote healing and resistance to further harm
- How to empower young people to name what’s happening to them, resist harm, respond, and ultimately thrive
Assistant Professor Farzana Adjah’s research examines the influence of racial stressors and culturally-relevant practices on the psychological health, academic success, and well-being of Black adolescents and other youth of color. Her work focuses on factors in the family, school, and community contexts that can help youth manage the consequences of racial stress and trauma. To learn more about her research, visit her faculty profile.
If you or someone you know is struggling with their emotional health, the National Institute of Mental Health lists resources on their webpage.
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