title: Neighborhood context, personality, and stressful life events as predictors of depression among African American women.
abstract: The authors tested neighborhood context, negative life events, and negative affectivity as predictors of the onset of major depression among 720 African American women. Neighborhood-level economic disadvantage (e.g., percentage of residents below the poverty line) and social disorder (e.g., delinquency, drug use) predicted the onset of major depression when controlling for individual-level demographic characteristics. Neighborhood-level disadvantage/disorder interacted with negative life events, such that women who experienced recent negative life events and lived in high disadvantage/disorder neighborhoods were more likely to become depressed than were those who lived in more benign settings, both concurrently and over a 2-year period. Neighborhood disadvantage/disorder can be viewed as a vulnerability factor that increases susceptibility to depression following the experience of negative life events.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Iowa State University.
authors.forename: Carolyn E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Cutrona
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Iowa State University.
authors.forename: Daniel W
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2264-861X
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Russell
authors.affiliation: Institute for Social and Behavioral Research, Iowa State University.
authors.forename: P Adama
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Iowa.
authors.forename: Lee Anna
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee.
authors.forename: Robert M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Hessling
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Iowa State University.
authors.forename: Kelli A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Gardner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015897:Comorbidity; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008875:Middle Aged; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012920:Social Behavior Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D012931:Social Environment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires