A holistic model for understanding and predicting depressive symptoms in a sample of 289 African‐American women was evaluated. Using a structural equation methodology, life events, social support, physical health problems, and internalized racialism were significant predictors of depressive symptoms. Although neither marital status nor religious orientation had predicted inverse effects on depressive symptoms, we found that the effects of socioeconomic status and developmental status on depressive symptoms were mediated through these and other variables specified in the model.