The Childhood Family Income Effects on Early Adulthood Depression

• In Event: 104 - Section on Sociology of Mental Health Paper Session. New Dimensions of Difference: Underexplored Variation in Mental Health

Abstract

The Childhood Family Income Effects on Early Adulthood Depression: The Black-White Differences in the Stress Process Mechanisms

Main purpose of this study is to investigate potential mechanisms between childhood family income and adulthood depression. Although there have been evidences showing the independent childhood effects from adulthood factors in stress-process model, race differences in the pathways remain unclear. This research tests six mediators between childhood family income and adult depression using Add-Health Wave I and IV restricted data. This study also compares the mechanisms by black and white groups in order to seek for unraveling racially patterned health disparities. Using mediation analysis (khb method), I found two black-white differences in the pathways. First, while childhood mediators – social support, mistreatment, and happiness with neighborhoods – are statistically significant among whites, the three variables are not mediating the family income effects on adult depression among blacks. Second, while adulthood mechanisms – mastery, current income and education level – quite largely mediate (about 90%) the childhood family income effects on adult depression among whites, they just mediate relatively small portion (40%) among blacks. Therefore, in contrast to blacks group, the direct family income effect is not statistically significant any more among whites group. These results imply that we need to pay attention to the race differences in mental health development from childhood to adulthood.

Keywords: Stress-process model, Adult depression (CES-D), childhood family income, Black and white differences, Add-health, mediation analysis (khb method)

Author

• Kiwoong Park, State University of New York-Albany