Religiousness and Depressive Symptoms in Five Ethnic Adolescent Groups

This study examined the relation between religiousness and depressive symptoms in African American, Asian American, European American, Hispanic American, and Native American adolescents (N = 13,317) in the United States with self-esteem and school attachment as potential mediators in this link. The data were taken from a nationally represented sample of adolescents in Grades 7 through 12, from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Structural equation analyses with measurement and structural invariance across the five ethnic groups and gender supported the model that religiousness, as a composite of internal and external religiousness items, negatively predicted depressive symptoms 1 year later controlling for baseline depressive symptoms. Self-esteem and school attachment partially mediated this link but only for European American and African American adolescents.     

Ethnic differences in clinical presentation of depression in adult women

This study examined ethnic differences in self-report and interviewer-rated depressive symptoms and estimated the contributions of sociodemographic and psychosocial factors in predicting severity of depression. One hundred twenty-five clinically depressed African American (n = 46), Caucasian (n = 36), and Latina (n = 43) women were recruited. After controlling for differences in socioeconomic status, African American women reported more symptoms of distress and Latinas were rated as significantly more depressed than the other groups. However, these ethnic differences were not moderated by either education or employment. Finally, hierarchical regression analysis indicated that severity of depression was predicted by low education, being single, being Latina, high perceived stress, and feelings of hopelessness. Additional research is needed to validate these results and to investigate their clinical significance.     

Early Pubertal Timing as a Vulnerability to Depression Symptoms: Differential Effects of Race and Sex

Robust evidence supports that girls and boys who experience early pubertal timing, maturing earlier than one’s peers, are vulnerable to developing symptoms of depression. However, it has yet to be clarified whether early pubertal timing confers vulnerability to African American as well as to Caucasian adolescents and whether this vulnerability is specific to depressive symptoms or can be generalized to symptoms of social anxiety. In previous studies, one race or one sex was examined in isolation or sample sizes were too small to examine racial differences. Our longitudinal study consisted of a sample of 223 adolescents (M_age?=?12.42, 54.3 % female, 50.2 % African American, and 49.8 % Caucasian). At baseline, depressive symptoms, social anxiety symptoms, and pubertal timing were assessed by self-report. Nine months later, we assessed depressive symptoms, social anxiety symptoms, body esteem, and stressful life events that occurred between baseline and follow-up. Analyses indicated that early pubertal timing interacted with stressful life events to predict increased symptoms of depression, but only for Caucasian girls and African American boys. Results were found to be specific to depressive symptoms and did not generalize to symptoms of social anxiety. Additionally, there was a significant positive indirect effect of pubertal timing on symptoms of depression through body esteem for Caucasian females.     

Why are hispanics at greater risk for PTSD?

Several studies have found that Hispanic Americans have higher rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than non-Hispanic Caucasian and Black Americans. The authors identified predictors of PTSD symptom severity that distinguished Hispanic police officers (n=189) from their non-Hispanic Caucasian (n=317) and Black (n=162) counterparts and modeled them to explain the elevated Hispanic risk for PTSD. The authors found that greater peritraumatic dissociation, greater wishful thinking and self-blame coping, lower social support, and greater perceived racism were important variables in explaining the elevated PTSD symptoms among Hispanics. Results are discussed in the context of Hispanic culture and may be important for prevention of mental illness in the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States.     

A cross-cultural investigation of cognitions and depressive symptoms in adolescents

Adolescents (N=2,272) from Hong Kong and the United States provided information regarding their depressive symptoms, cognitions (self-efficacy, negative cognitive errors, and hopelessness), and stressful events between 2 surveys 6 months apart. Depressive symptoms and hopelessness were higher, and self-efficacy and negative cognitive errors were lower in Hong Kong than in the United States. Cognitions were associated with concurrent depressive symptoms and predicted depressive symptoms 6 months later in both cultures. The "reverse" model was also supported with more variance predicted by depressive symptoms to later cognitions than from cognitions to depressive symptoms. There was some support for the hypothesis that self-efficacy is less salient in collective compared with individualistic cultures. These findings extend cognitive theories of depression to a non-Western culture.     

Validity of the Self-Harm Behavior Questionnaire with Diverse Adolescents

Suicide and non-suicidal self-injurious behavior (NSSI) continue to be significant health problems for adolescents. Although there are many instruments available to assess self-harm behaviors, few have been validated for use with adolescents, and even fewer have been validated for use with different racial/ethnic groups. The Self-Harm Behavior Questionnaire (SHBQ) assesses NSSI, suicidal ideation, suicide threats, and past suicide attempts. Data from 1,386 racially/ethnically diverse adolescents (57.5% minority) were collected to examine the validity of the SHBQ in this age group. Analyses supported the four-factor structure, revealed the SHBQ is internally consistent, and provided evidence for convergent validity within Caucasian, African American, and Hispanic adolescents. However, slight differences were noted. Overall, the findings suggest the SHBQ is a useful assessment tool appropriate for use with Caucasian, African American, and Hispanic adolescents.     

Home Versus School Environments and their Influences on the Affective and Behavioral States of African American,Hispanic, and Caucasian Juvenile Offenders

We examined and compared the influence of home and school environments to the affective (anxiety and depression) and behavioral (impulsivity and compliance) states of 626 African American, Caucasian, and Hispanic adjudicated juvenile offenders. African Americans showed the strongest relationship between their home environment and compliance. Caucasian and Hispanic males exhibited increased home and school environment problems associated with affective states. Among females, African American and Caucasian females exhibited the strongest relationships between their home environment and behavioral states, whereas Caucasian and Hispanic males revealed increased school environment problems related to affective states with Hispanic males showing the strongest relationships. In addition, the school environment was more predictive of the affective and behavioral states of the adolescents, particularly females.     

The impact of depressive symptomatology on risky sexual behavior and sexual communication among African American female adolescents

Adolescents, particularly African American adolescents, are at high risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The association between psychosocial factors and risky sexual behavior has been well established. However, only a small number of studies have examined the relationship between depressive symptomatology among African American female adolescents, specifically over time. The present study examined depressive symptoms as a predictor of risky sexual behavior, sexual communication, and STIs longitudinally among African American female adolescents between the ages 15 and 21. Binary generalized estimating equation models were conducted assessing the impact of depressive symptoms at baseline on risky sexual behavior and STIs over six- and 12-months follow-up. Age, intervention group, and baseline outcome measures were entered as covariates. The results indicated that high levels of depressive symptoms predicted no condom use during last sexual encounter and multiple sexual partners over six-months follow-up. Depressive symptoms also predicted having a main partner with concurrent partners, high fear of communication about condoms, and sex while high on alcohol or drugs over six- and 12-months follow-up. These findings could be used to inform HIV/STI prevention intervention programs and clinicians providing regular health care maintenance to African American female adolescents engaging in risky sexual behavior.     

Parenting Stress, Social Support, and Depression for Ethnic Minority Adolescent Mothers: Impact on Child Development

Rates of teenage pregnancies are higher for African American and Latina adolescents compared to their White peers. African American and Latina adolescent mothers also experience more adversities than their White peers, such as higher rates of depression, school dropout, and economic disadvantage. Furthermore, children of adolescent mothers are at higher risk for adverse development. Parenting stress and social support can impact outcomes experienced by adolescent parents and their children. The present study examined the influence of adolescent mothers’ parenting stress and perceived social support on maternal depression at baseline (6 months after birth), and its impact on infant development 1 year later (18 months after birth). Participants were 180 adolescent mothers of African American or Latino/Hispanic descent. Results suggest that higher levels of parenting stress and less perceived social support were associated with higher levels of depression in the adolescent mothers at baseline. Higher levels of maternal depression were also associated with more developmental delays in infants 1 year post-baseline. Additionally, depression mediated the relationship between parenting stress and later child outcomes. These findings highlight the importance of examining parenting factors such as parenting stress, social support, and maternal depression in ethnic minority adolescent parents, and provide valuable information regarding unique risk and protective factors associated with positive maternal outcomes for ethnic minority adolescent parents and healthy development for their children.     

Clinically Significant Depressive Symptoms in African American Adolescent Females in an Urban Reproductive Health Clinic

Adolescent depression is a major public health concern. Depression and depressive symptoms are more prevalent in adolescent females and are associated with high-risk sexual behavior. Only one third of adolescents receive professional help for their depression, although about 90% visit their primary care providers on average 2–3 times per year. It is imperative that health professionals seek additional methods in the identification and treatment of depressive symptoms. This paper presents findings of the presence of clinically significant depressive symptoms in African American female adolescents receiving routine health care services within an adolescent primary care reproductive health clinic. Results revealed higher rates of depressive symptoms in this subsample of African American adolescent females when compared to the national sample, suggesting that primary care reproductive health clinics are a viable setting for the identification of depressive symptoms among low income, African American female adolescents. Psychosocial interventions and recommendations for the integration of primary care reproductive health, and behavioral health consultation services are presented.     

Examining Anxiety and Depression as Moderators of the Associations Between ADHD Symptoms and Academic and Social Problems in Hispanic Adolescents

The effects of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms on the psychosocial functioning of Hispanic youth have been understudied. It also remains unclear if the well-established associations between ADHD symptoms and academic and social impairment are exacerbated by co-occurring internalizing symptoms. The purposes of the present study were to (1) examine whether ADHD symptoms would be associated with academic and social problems while also controlling for oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms, and (2) test the hypothesis that anxious and depressive symptoms would moderate the relations between ADHD symptoms and academic and social problems. Participants were 142 at-risk Hispanic adolescents (54 % male, ages 14–19) who reported on their anxious and depressive symptoms, as well as their teachers who reported on adolescents’ ADHD symptoms, ODD symptoms, academic problems, and social problems. When the psychopathology variables were included simultaneously in a path model, ADHD was the only domain significantly positively associated with academic problems. In contrast, ODD and depressive symptoms were the only domains significantly positively associated with social problems when all of the psychopathology variables were included in the path model. No moderation effects were found in relation to academic problems, although a significant ADHD × depression interaction was found in relation to social problems. Specifically, ADHD symptoms were not associated with social problems among adolescents who reported low levels of depressive symptoms, but the association between ADHD symptoms and social problems was significant at higher levels of depression. In addition to targeting oppositionality, attending to the combined presence of ADHD and depressive symptoms will be important for reducing the social impairments among Hispanic adolescents.     

THE RELATIONSHIP OF GENDER AND ETHNICITY TO SELF-SILENCING AND DEPRESSION AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS

This study expands on the initial work with the Silencing the Self Scale (STSS; Jack, 1991) by presenting data using a more diverse, nonclinical sample. Included were both men and women ( n = 604) who were African American, Asian, Caucasian, and Hispanic. It was expected that women would be more self-silencing than men, and that there would be ethnic differences. There were three principal findings: (a) men were more self-silencing than were women on the STSS; (b) there was a main effect for ethnicity on the STSS, with Asians expressing the highest levels of self-silencing; and (c) there was a positive correlation between self-silencing and depression for all ethnic/gender groups.     

The Impact of Maternal Depressive Symptoms on Adolescents’ Aggression: Role of Parenting and Family Mediators

Previous research has found an association between mothers’ depressive symptoms and their adolescents’ involvement in aggression. The present study examined three mechanisms believed to account for this relation: parenting practices, family functioning, and informant discrepancy. Participants were a high-risk sample of 927 mother–adolescent dyads (66% African American) who completed baseline assessments for the Multisite Violence Prevention Project. Maternal depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale. Adolescents’ aggression was assessed using parent- and teacher-report on the Behavior Assessment System for Children and student-report on the Problem Behavior Frequency Scale. Mothers’ reports of depressive symptoms were significantly related to their adolescents’ aggression based on student, teacher, and mothers’ reports, with the strongest correlations found with mothers’ reports. Multilevel modeling indicated that maternal depressive symptoms were related to the degree of discrepancy between mothers’ ratings of their adolescents’ aggression and ratings by adolescents and their teachers. Smaller discrepancies between mothers’ and teachers’ ratings of adolescents’ aggression were found for depressed mothers, as compared to non-depressed mothers. Structural equation models indicated that the relation between maternal depressive symptoms and mothers’ report of adolescents’ aggression was mediated by several parenting and family functioning variables, with the clearest effects for parenting practices. Similar findings were not found in analyses predicting adolescents’ ratings and teachers’ ratings. These findings underscore the potential direct and indirect benefits of interventions focused on reducing depression among mothers with adolescent children.     

Information processing biases concurrently and prospectively predict depressive symptoms in adolescents: Evidence from a self-referent encoding task

Negative information processing biases have been hypothesised to serve as precursors for the development of depression. The current study examined negative self-referent information processing and depressive symptoms in a community sample of adolescents (N = 291, M_age at baseline = 12.34 ± 0.61, 53% female, 47.4% African-American, 49.5% Caucasian and 3.1% Biracial). Participants completed a computerised self-referent encoding task (SRET) and a measure of depressive symptoms at baseline and completed an additional measure of depressive symptoms nine months later. Several negative information processing biases on the SRET were associated with concurrent depressive symptoms and predicted increases in depressive symptoms at follow-up. Findings partially support the hypothesis that negative information processing biases are associated with depressive symptoms in a nonclinical sample of adolescents, and provide preliminary evidence that these biases prospectively predict increases in depressive symptoms.     

Cultural Differences in the Reciprocal Relations between Emotion Suppression Coping,Depressive Symptoms and Interpersonal Functioning among Adolescents

The current study examined the prospective relations between emotion suppression and maladjustment (i.e., depressive symptoms, family stress events, peer stress events, and family and peer support) among Vietnamese American (n = 372) and European American adolescents (n = 304). We found that at baseline Vietnamese Americans adolescents reported greater use of emotion suppression coping than European American adolescents. Multi-group structural equation modeling indicated that for European American teens emotion suppression was significantly related to increased depression symptoms and decreased quality of peer relationships. In contrast, for the Vietnamese Americans teens emotion suppression relations to later maladjustment was either nonsignificant or attenuated relative to the European American. These findings suggest ethnic group differences in both the utilization, and consequences and function of emotion suppression among Vietnamese American and European American adolescents.     

Parental Physical Punishment and Adolescent Adjustment: Bidirectionality and the Moderation Effects of Child Ethnicity and Parental Warmth

This study used cross-lagged modeling to examine reciprocal relations between maternal and paternal physical punishment and adolescent misconduct and depressive symptoms, while accounting for stability in both physical punishment and adjustment problems over time. Data were drawn from a sample of 862 two-parent families and their adolescent children (52 % males; 54 % European American; 44 % African American; 2 % other ethnic backgrounds). Mothers’ and fathers’ physical punishment of their adolescents’ ages 12 and 14 predicted increased misconduct and depressive symptoms among these adolescents at ages 14 and 16. Adolescent misconduct, but not depressive symptoms, at ages 12 and 14 predicted increased physical punishment by their parents at ages 14 and 16. Neither parental warmth nor child ethnicity moderated the longitudinal relationship between parental physical punishment and adolescent adjustment. Patterns of findings were similar across mothers and fathers.     

Gender and ethnic differences in body image and opposite sex figure preferences of rural adolescents

This study examined whether rural adolescents would report gender and ethnic differences in body image similar to those that have been observed in urban samples. Data were analyzed for 384 rural adolescents (57% African American, 43% Caucasian, mean age 13 years) to determine gender and ethnic differences in body dissatisfaction, body size discrepancy, and current and ideal figure ratings. Females wanted to be smaller and reported more body dissatisfaction than did males. Caucasian females reported the most body dissatisfaction. African Americans reported larger current and ideal figure ratings than did Caucasians. African Americans preferred larger opposite sex figures than did Caucasians. Both African American and Caucasian males selected a larger female figure as ideal than was selected by females. Results demonstrated that gender and ethnic differences exist in body image for rural adolescents. This frequently overlooked population may benefit from further study. Implications of findings and limitations of the study are also discussed.     

Weight ratings of others: The effects of multiple target and rater features

The present study investigated factors that affect the subjective analysis of the weight of other individuals. Three hundred and thirty-three participants viewed figures varying in muscularity, adiposity, gender, and race. For each of the eighteen figures (targets), a 2 (rater gender: male, female) × 3 (rater race/ethnicity: Caucasian, African American, Hispanic) × 3 (target race/ethnicity: Caucasian, African American, Hispanic) repeated measures ANCOVA was conducted (BMI was covaried). Overall, there were few significant effects, however, for some of the figural stimuli, African American raters assigned lower weight ratings than did Caucasian and Hispanic raters. The findings offer support for further investigation of ethnic differences in weight ratings as a potential factor that might inform ethnic differences in overweight and obesity prevalence.     

Perceived Discrimination and Suicide Ideation: Moderating Roles of Anxiety Symptoms and Ethnic Identity among Asian American,African American,and Hispanic Emerging Adults

Suicide is a leading cause of death for vulnerable ethnic minority emerging adults in the United States (Web‐based injury statistics query and reporting system [WISQARS], 2015). Perceived discrimination (Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 40, 2011, 1465) and anxiety symptoms (Asian American Journal of Psychology, 1, 2010, 18) are two predictors that are theoretically and conceptually related, but have yet to be examined in a simultaneous model for suicide ideation. Existing theory and research suggest that these variables activate similar pathways (American Behavioral Scientist, 51, 2007, 551). This study sought to address this gap in the literature by examining the simultaneous relationship between perceived discrimination and anxiety symptoms as predictors of suicide ideation. The moderating effect of anxiety symptoms on the relationship between perceived discrimination and suicide ideation was examined in a multiethnic sample of emerging adults. Results indicated that anxiety symptoms moderated the perceived discrimination–suicide ideation relationship for Hispanic emerging adults, but not for their Asian American and African American counterparts. Furthermore, ethnic identity has been shown to mitigate suicide risk in the face of other stressors (Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 14, 2008, 75). Ethnic identity emerged as a protective factor for Hispanic emerging adults by further interacting with perceived discrimination and anxiety symptoms to negatively predict suicide ideation. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Immigrant Parents and Their Emigrant Adolescents: The Tension of Inner and Outer Worlds

This article examines different experiences of immigrant parents and their children in transit between the parents' ethnic world and American culture through three clinical cases: a 16-year-old male, whose mother is Persian and father East Indian and who presents with depression and lack of focus; an 18-year-old girl, whose mother is Nigerian and father African American and who was reporting depressive symptoms and confusion about sexual identity; and an 18-year-old depressed male from an Assyrian Iraqi background whose parents both are from Northern Iraq, but have lived in the United States for 20 years. Adolescents of immigrant families have much more complicated tasks during this phase of their development to establish a future sense of self-identity. A well-consolidated sense of self-identity is more complicated for these types of multiethnic immigrant families. The adolescents must rely on parental ego functions and their coherent sense of identity to weather this stage of their turbulent experience. In their strong fantasy framework, these adolescents strive to belong to their new peer groups, in which parents do not belong, particularly when the immigrant parents present a variety of different social and cultural values discordant to the contemporary culture. The cases suggest that both positive and negative aspects of ethnic identification become diluted during adolescence, when identification with parental mores occurs.