For African American millennials, difficulties on the road to adulthood may be hurting their mothers' health

Exposure to constant stress has a proven to be bad for people's health. But what is the effect of stress that comes from family relationships, such as when parents have to support their children's path to adulthood? In new research, Ashley Barr studies the effects of this kind of stress on mothers' health, finding that young African Americans' challenges during the transition to adulthood are closely linked to their mothers having poorer health. Each additional challenge faced by African American adolescents, such as economic hardship or racial discrimination, prematurely ages their mothers by nearly two and a half years.