Urban families and adolescent mental health

The study discussed in this article investigated the effects of social and economic disadvantage on parent distress, family processes, and adolescent mental health in a longitudinal, multiethnic sample of 800 urban adolescents and parents. The findings support the hypothesis that poverty, life stressors, and isolation affect parent mood and disrupt family processes, which, in turn, are linked to adolescent externalizing and internalizing problems. The findings illustrate the importance of integrating an understanding of family processes and context in assessment and intervention directed at adolescent mental health problems.