Socioeconomic Disparities in Adolescent Mental Health Problems: Secular Trends from 1989 through 2016

• In Event: 3-016 - Differential Effects of Socioeconomic Contexts Over Time and Over Individuals on Health and Educational Attainment

Integrative Statement

Introduction: Evidence from epidemiological studies and systematic reviews have found increased rates of internalizing and somatic mental health symptoms among adolescents in the 21st century (Collishaw, 2014; Collishaw et al., 2010; Mojtabai et al., 2016; Twenge, 2015; Twenge et al., 2002). Numerous potential correlates have been identified, ranging from behavioral (e.g., technology use) to psychological (e.g., achievement stress) to contextual (e.g., social connections; economic stress) (Twenge et al., 2017; Luthar & Kumar, 2018). In this research, we seek to expand the evidence base on the role of socioeconomic inequality as a key contextual factor associated with secular trends in adolescent mental health symptoms, focusing on the proximal socioeconomic contexts of families and schools. Although anecdotal and small-scale studies have pointed to heightened rates of emotional problems among youth in economically advantaged families and schools (Luthar et al., 2013), representative samples have not replicated this pattern, finding connections between low socioeconomic status and heightened adolescent emotional problems (Coley et al., 2018; Goodman et al., 2003; Lund et al., 2017). This paper addresses how socioeconomic disparities in symptoms of depression have shifted from 1989 through 2016; how disparities vary across two primary socioeconomic contexts of families and schools; and whether these patterns differ across early, middle, and late adolescence.

Study Population: Data were drawn from annual Monitoring the Future surveys from 1989 through 2016, which assessed 1,393,175 8th, 10th, and 12th graders in public and private schools in the United States. Adolescents self reported on symptoms of depression and on parental education, used as a proxy of family socioeconomic status. School socioeconomic status measures were created by aggregating student data to the school level.

Method: Multilevel regression analyses, weighted to make the data nationally representative, were estimated to assess secular trends in depressive symptoms and how depressive symptoms varied across family and school socioeconomic contexts. A second set of models assessed how socioeconomic disparities in depressive symptoms changed historically from 1989 through 2016. All models adjusted for adolescent demographic characteristics to control for shifting population characteristics over time.

Results identified three key patterns. First, across early, middle, and late adolescent samples, self reported depressive symptoms showed significant decreases from 2006 through 2012 in comparison to historical averages, whereas all three groups showed significant increases in depressive symptoms starting in 2014. Second, results found that parental socioeconomic status was a significant negative correlate of depressive symptoms for all age groups, with no indication of increased depressive symptoms among the highest levels of socioeconomic status. School socioeconomic status, in contrast, was only negatively associated with depressive symptoms for young adolescents. Third, results indicated that socioeconomic disparities in depressive symptoms have grown over time: significant growth in both family and school socioeconomic disparities in depressive symptoms emerged in recent years, with patterns stronger in older than younger adolescents. Results highlight how the role of proximal contexts for adolescent development may shift in response to broader historical forces.

Authors

• Rebekah Levine Coley, Boston College
  Non-Presenting Author

• Michael O'Brien, Boston College
  Presenting Author

• Bryn Spielvogel, Boston College
  Non-Presenting Author