Social Support and Perceived Mental Health by Race/Ethnicity, Gender, and Socio-Economic Status

• In Event: 2455 - Race, Ethnicity, and Mental Health: Critical Issues

Abstract

In this paper, we examine race/ethnicity differences in the association between perceived mental health and social support including social support from family, friends, church networks, and partners. We use internal moderation coding to distinguish between the effect of occupying a role from the association between mental health and the quality of perceived social support. We also examine how gender and socio-economic status – the latter measured as household income – moderate these associations. Using data from the National Survey of American Life (NSAL) on over 3,000 African Americans and 890 White Americans, we find that social support from friends, church members, and partners is associated with better perceived mental health, irrespective of race/ethnicity. Partner support is more salient for White Americans and number of fictive kin is only associated with mental health among White Americans. Family support is associated with better mental health among White Americans irrespective of household income and among Black Americans in average and high income households but not among African Americans in low income households. We discuss the implications these results have for an understanding of how structural position – race/ethnicity, socio-economic status, and gender – influence the relationship between social support and mental health.

Authors

• Susan Roxburgh, Kent State University

• Kelly Rhea MacArthur, University of Nebraska-Omaha