Poster #53 - Associations Between Residential Mobility, Scholastic and Social Competence, and Depressive Symptoms Among African American Youth

• In Event: 2-110 - Poster Session 07
  In Poster Session: PS 07 Section - Developmental Psychopathology

Integrative Statement

Introduction: Residential mobility has been found to be a contributing factor in various negative outcomes among urban youth including poor physical health (Busacker & Kasehagen, 2012), delinquency (Schmidt, Krohn, & Osypuk, 2017), and internalizing symptoms including depression (Jelleyman & Spencer, 2007). One means through which residential mobility may affect adolescent youth is the disruption of continuity in schooling because change in residence may be accompanied by a change in schools. Through the disruption of adolescent school continuity and stress due to residential moves, an adolescent's sense of competency in the academic and social realms may be negatively affected. Diminished perceived competence in the academic and social domain has been found to be associated with increases in internalizing symptoms (Moilanen, Shaw, Maxwell, 2010). The current study examines the relationship between residential moves, perceived academic and social competence, and depressive symptoms among African American urban dwelling youth. We hypothesized that having more residential moves during grades 1 to 5 will be associated with increases in depressive symptoms in grade 6, and that this association will be partially accounted for by decreases in scholastic and social competence.
Method: Participants were 427 African American adolescents (48% female) residing in Baltimore, MD. Participants reported their scholastic and social competence and depressive symptoms in grade 6 as part of a longitudinal study following youth from elementary school through high school. Residential mobility was measured based on changes in yearly reported addresses. The measures of interest for the current study were moves over grades 1 to 5, and competence and depressive symptoms in grade 6.

Results: Preliminary regression analyses revealed that the number of moves during the elementary school period was positively associated with depressive symptoms the following year (B= .06, p < .05). After accouting for scholastic competence and social competence in grade 6, the association between moves in grades 1 to 5 and depression decreases (B = .03, p > .05) showing that both scholastic competence (B = -20, p < .001) and social competence (B = - .14, p < .001) account for part of the association between mobility and depression.
Conclusions: Given the established link between early residential moves and poor academic achievement (e.g., Voight, Shinn, & Nation, 2012), these findings can inform programming to address depressive symptoms and academic functioning. Implications for prevention and intervention will be discussed.

Authors

• Andrew Gepty, George Washington University
  Presenting Author

• Sharon Lambert, George Washington University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Adam Milam, Johns Hopkins University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Nicholas S. Lalongo, Johns Hopkins University
  Non-Presenting Author