Family Stress and Rural African American Adolescents’ Depressive Symptoms

• In Event: Internalizing problems among African American adolescents and emerging adults

Abstract

Introduction
Limited longitudinal research investigates how family stress affects the development of depressive symptoms among African American adolescents. African American youth may be at risk for more long-lasting depressive symptoms, as families are exposed to disproportionate amounts of stress. Accumulating data implicate stress induced parent-youth conflict in the emergence of self-control, a consistent predictor of depressive symptoms in adolescence. This study tests a developmental model of the family and intrapersonal processes linking family stress to depressive symptoms from age 11-15. We hypothesized that family contextual stress would predict increased parent-youth conflict, which in turn, would predict adolescents’ decreased self-control, a proximal predictor of increased depressive symptoms.
Methods
The sample consisted of 472 African American youth and their primary caregivers who live in small towns and rural communities in South Georgia in which poverty rates are among the highest in the nation. Youth and their caregivers provided data at 4 time points approximately one year apart (youth ages 11-16). A cumulative family stress risk factor index was created from caregiver measures at Time 1. Three multi-reporter composites of family conflict were used as indicators of a latent Parent-Youth Conflict variable at Time 2. A multi-reporter composite of adolescent poor self-control was used at Time 3 and youth’s report of their own depressive symptomatology was used at Time 4. Baseline levels of intermediate outcomes (parent youth conflict, self-control) and depressive symptoms as well as sex and intervention condition were controlled. Hypotheses were tested with structural equation modeling (SEM).
Results
Results were consistent with study hypotheses. Family stress significantly predicted depressive symptoms via intermediate effects on parent-youth conflict and poor adolescent self-control. The indirect influence of family stress via this pathway was significant based on the bootstrapped 95% confidence interval.
Conclusions
Findings suggest that when families experience stress, parent-youth conflict increases, which may lead to the development of poor self-control in youth, a proximal predictor of increased depressive symptoms. This study contributes to the existing literature by identifying how stress can “spillover” to impact parent-youth conflict, youth self-control and ultimately adolescent depressive symptoms. Findings have implications for the development of prevention programs for rural African American adolescents. Prevention programming can develop curricula that targets these specific processes such as improving parent-youth relationships and adolescent self-control.

Authors

• Ava Jane Reck, University of Georgia
  Presenting Author

• Steven M. Kogan, University of Georgia
  Non-Presenting Author