Perceptions of racism and depressive symptoms in African American adolescents: the role of perceived academic and social control.
Experiences with racism are a common occurrence for African American youth and may result in negative self perceptions relevant for the experience of depressive symptoms. This study examined the longitudinal association between perceptions of racism and depressive symptoms, and whether perceived academic or social control mediated this association, in a community epidemiologically-defined sample of urban African American adolescents (N = 500; 46.4% female). Structural equation modeling revealed that experiences with racism were associated with low perceived academic control, which in turn was associated with increased depressive symptoms. Findings suggest that experiences with racism can have long lasting effects for African American youth's depressive symptoms, and highlight the detrimental effects of experiences with racism for perceptions of control in the academic domain. Implications for intervention are discussed.
Lambert
Sharon F
SF
Department of Psychology, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA. slambert@gwu.edu
Herman
Keith C
KC
Bynum
Mia Smith
MS
Ialongo
Nicholas S
NS
D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011287:Prejudice; D012926:Social Control, Formal; D012938:Social Perception; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data