Race/Ethnicity, Parental Support, and Youth Depressive Symptoms: A Moderated Longitudinal Mediation Analysis

• Published in: Journal of youth and adolescence Vol. 50; no. 7; pp. 1319 - 1332
• Main Authors: Stafford, Allison McCord, Tsumura, Hideyo, Pan, Wei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.07.2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescents; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Child and School Psychology; Clinical Psychology; Empirical Research; Ethnicity; Health problems; Health Psychology; History of Psychology; Law and Psychology; Mental depression; Mental health; Noncitizens; Parents & parenting; Psychology; Race relations; Structural equation modeling; Symptoms; Teenagers; Youth; Depression; Health Status Disparities; Parent–Child Relations; Immigrants; Adolescent
• ISSN: 0047-2891; 1573-6601
• DOI: 10.1007/s10964-021-01447-7

Racial/ethnic disparities in depression exist among youth in the United States. The purpose of this study was to determine if parental support trajectories in adolescence explain the relationship between race/ethnicity and depressive symptom trajectories in adulthood. A two-step longitudinal parallel process analysis with multigroup structural equation modeling was conducted with a nationally representative sample of youth ( N  = 5300; 48.5% female; M  = 13.33 (Range:12–15) years at baseline). While parental support trajectories did not mediate the relationship between race/ethnicity and depressive symptoms, parental support trajectories were related to depressive symptom trajectories in adulthood. Immigrant generation status also moderated the relationship between race/ethnicity and depressive symptom trajectories. The results demonstrate the impact of parental support on later mental health outcomes regardless of race/ethnicity.