Protective Mechanisms for Depression among Racial/Ethnic Minority Youth: Empirical Findings, Issues, and Recommendations

Abstract

We (1) review empirical studies that report findings regarding putative protective mechanisms when exposed to risk of depression in African American and Hispanic adolescents; (2) identify key protective mechanisms for different risk contexts that garner empirical support; (3) synthesize the mechanisms identified as protective against depression among racial/ethnic minority adolescents; and (4) discuss improved methods for advancing understanding of resilience against depression in minority youth. The studies were selected from PsycINFO searches that met the following inclusion criteria: participants between 12 and 21 years of age, inclusions of racial/ ethnic minority members, examining protection through an interaction with a risk factor, and outcome measures of depression, depressed mood, or depressive symptomatology. We found 39 eligible studies; 13 of which included multiple racial/ethnic groups. The following were supported as protective mechanisms, at least preliminarily, for at least one racial/ethnic group and in at least one risk context: employment, extracurricular activities, fatheradolescent closeness, familism, maternal support, attending predominately minority schools, neighborhood composition, non-parent support, parental inductive reasoning, religiosity, self-esteem, social activities, and positive early teacher relationships. To investigate protective mechanisms more comprehensively and accurately across individual, social, and community levels of influence, we recommend incorporating multilevel modeling or multilevel growth curve analyses and large diverse samples.

Ethnic–racial identity content and the development of depressive symptoms among Latino adolescents

“…Although ethnic–racial identity is often associated with positive psychosocial functioning among ethnic minority youth, evidence for psychological benefits has been largely derived from indicators other than depression. For instance, there is converging empirical evidence to suggest that different facets of ethnic–racial identity are associated with positive self-esteem (e.g., Rivas-Drake, Syed, et al, 2014; Smith & Silva, 2011), and self-esteem is often considered a key mechanism through which ethnic–racial identity instills promotive and protective benefits in other domains, such as school and coping outcomes (e.g., Romero, Edwards, Fryberg, & Orduña, 2014; Schwartz, Zamboanga, & Jarvis, 2007; Scott, Wallander, & Cameron, 2015; Umaña-Taylor, Updegraff, & Gonzales-Backen, 2011).…”

Depression among Black Youth; Interaction of Class and Place

“…SES aspects of the neighborhood, racial composition, physical and social environment, and segregation are all neighborhood and contextual factors that have mental health implications [ 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 , 73 , 74 , 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 ]. Ethnic density is one of the major factors that shapes PRD and depression for minorities including Blacks [ 49 , 54 , 79 , 80 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 ].…”

Navigating double marginalisation: migrant Chinese sexual and gender minority young people’s views on mental health challenges and supports

“…Such research suggests that the intersection of particular minority identities may produce positive outcomes, despite the theoretical prediction of increased minority stress. For instance, the strong family connectedness of many minority ethnic communities (Scott, Wallander and Cameron 2015;Snowshoe et al 2017;Reid et al 2016), may in fact be protective as it may gradually encourage the familial acceptance (Ryan et al 2010) of double minority youth.…”