A new study has revealed how the mental health of Black girls can depend on their satisfaction with their hair.
According to UConn research published in Body Image, 193 adolescent girls identifying as Black, white, and Latina were asked about their satisfaction with their appearance. The study also asked the girls about their experience with discrimination and symptoms associated with depression.
The study found that hair perception was the only area that varied among the racial groups. The Black participants specifically faced the most discrimination in regard to hair. Furthermore, the study concluded that hair discrimination and subsequent dissatisfaction predicted more depressive symptoms in Black girls.
“Black adolescent girls, significantly beyond their white peers and their Latina peers, were more likely to experience hair-related discrimination and hair-related dissatisfaction,” says Adenique Lisse, a Black graduate student at UConn studying clinical psychology. “That hair dissatisfaction was more likely to lead to increased feelings of depression compared to their peers.”Given her own identity, Lisse wanted to explore how specific physical appearances mattered in the well-being of Black girls. She found that body image did not weigh as heavily for this racial group as opposed to white adolescent girls. Hair, however, has been an ongoing issue in the perception, and even policing, of Black girls and people in general.
“That made me think about my own experience growing up and how much conversation there is within the Black community about hair,” explained Lisse. “Recently, we’ve been seeing a movement for more hair acceptance and talking about that a lot more within different spaces.”
Lisse noted that modern movements sought to diversify messaging surrounding natural hair. The PhD student believes that these shifts have helped Black girls accept and take pride in their diverse hair textures, even when initial societal preferences championed looser curl patterns.
“A lot of Black adolescent girls may not have hair like that—they might have hair that is more coily in texture, and that leaves room for discrimination and microaggressions,” Lisse says.
However, the study participants provided a limited scope given the girls’ location in a Connecticut city. Despite this, its findings still could shed light on broader issues across the nation for Black girls and finding ways to directly address them. Ultimately, this may lead to eliminating the mental health stressors and depression triggers for teen Black girls.
“There has been more work within the last decade or so to kind of combat racial discrimination at work and school pertaining to hair,” added Lisse. “I think that this opens up a conversation about what more can be done, whether that’s things parents can do or teachers can do within the school because a lot of the messaging that we see happens among peers as well.”
With this in mind, Lisse is continuing her research and encouraging more cultural analysis in future studies regarding race.
RELATED CONTENT: FDA Finally Revokes FD&C Red No. 3 For Food And Drugs