The presidential election of Barack Obama in 2008 was a landmark moment in American history for countless reasons. Now, a new study from Rice University is adding on to the many reasons. Researchers say there was a marked improvement in the mental health of Black men 30 days after the election.

The study, titled "'Yes We Can!' The Mental Health Significance for U.S. Black Adults of Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential Election," was written by Rice University sociology professor Tony Brown, Alexa Solazzo, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University, and Bridget Gorman, a professor of sociology at Rice.

Rice University researchers looked through surveys of Black adults’ mental health for 30 days prior to and 30 days following the 2008 election, using in-depth data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.

The system surveys about 400,000 adults across the country on a variety of health factors. Participants were asked on average how many poor mental health days they had per week.

“Now thinking about your mental health, which includes stress, depression and problems with emotions, for how many days during the past 30 days was your mental health not good?” participants were asked in the 2008 survey. 

They found statistically noticeable improvements in the mental health of Black men. According to the study, Black men went from four poor mental health days a week to three just days after the election.

A reverse effect was found for Black women, with Black female respondents saying they went from an average of 4.6 poor mental health days before the election up to five afterward.

“This is one major reason we pursued this study — we wanted to know if there were any health implications from this momentous occasion in U.S. history. The study’s findings are important because we do not fully understand what factors protect mental health. Specifically, the findings demonstrate that sociopolitical shifts matter for the health of Black men and that everyday conditions of life act as social determinants of health,” Brown noted.

Brown said he is still trying to figure out why the numbers went up for Black women. He also had multiple theories about the change of poor mental health days. Voters, he said, "are symbolically empowered or disempowered by the biography, blind spots and biases of those winning presidential elections.”

He said that maybe Black women felt more of a connection to Hillary Clinton or were worried about the violence that may result from the election of the first Black president. 

“They could also have been concerned over the uptick in death threats just 10 days following Obama’s election, worrying about the new president-elect in the same way they would worry about their own husbands, fathers or sons. They might also have been concerned over how President Obama would deal with discrimination against Black men versus Black women,” Brown said, adding that a number of Black women may have foreseen backlash from racists. 

According to the researchers, the report is unique because most sociology studies look at the negative impact of events instead of positive results. They already have plans to look into the effect of Donald Trump's election on the mental health of white women.

In the conclusion of the report, Brown and the other researchers discuss their findings and try to work through potential reasons for the results. 

"Despite how racism endures, we think black men in fall 2008 experienced better mental health because they felt less invisible and powerless. They needed to believe they and the black community would benefit from Barack Obama’s victory," the study said.

"We speculate black women experienced no improvement in their mental health because they knew the racial status quo would return. They may better understand the permanence of racism from watching it harm black men but also from racism’s gender-specific impact in their own lives. Black women enjoy the privilege (and burden) of being realistic as simultaneous members of two subordinated groups," the study speculated.

In addition to being published online, the study will appear in a volume of the journal Sociology of Race and Ethnicity.