A longitudinal study of stress-buffering effects for urban African-American male adolescent problem behaviors and mental health

Abstract

The stress-buffering hypothesis was explored longitudinally in a sample of 173 urban, male, African-American adolescents. Data on parental and friend support, stressful life events, alcohol and substance use, delinquency, and psychological symptoms were collected twice, six months apart. No support for the stress-buffering hypothesis was found for any of the dependent variables. Friend support also was unrelated to the dependent variables longitudinally. Parental support predicted less anxiety and depression longitudinally, but psychological symptoms did not predict increased parental support over time. The findings suggest that parental support may help insulate these African-American youths from anxiety and depression, but that the youths' symptoms do not necessarily activate increased levels of parental support. The results of this study add to the growing body of research that indicates the positive role parental support plays in the healthy development of African-American adolescents.

Profiles of Resilience and Psychosocial Outcomes among Young Black Gay and Bisexual Men

“…Higher scores on the scale indicate higher levels of perceived support from parents. The PSS-Fa has been validated with young adult populations and employed in studies of young Black men (Procidano & Heller, 2005;Zimmerman et al, 2000). In the current sample, the PPS-Fa scale and subscales demonstrated excellent internal consistency reliability, as the mother support subscale had a Cronbach's a of .94, the father support had an a of .96, and the overall scale had an a of .92.…”

“…While studies of youth of color have not shown peer or friend social support to be a significant resilience factor in compensatory or protective models (O'Donnell et al, 2004;Zimmerman et al, 2000), research conducted with LGB individuals suggests that peer support may be a critically important protective factor in managing minority stress related to sexual identity (Choi, Han, Paul & Ayala, 2011;Herrick, Stall, Goldhammer et al, 2013;Kwon, 2013;Riggle, Whitman, Olson, Rostosky & Strong, 2008). Moreover, several studies suggest that support received from various sources may play a critical role in promoting positive health outcomes among YBGBM.…”

“…Levels of perceived social support from parents may be particularly important for improving psychosocial outcomes among young men of color. One study of Black male adolescents found support for both compensatory and protective models in which parental support directly related to lower psychological symptoms, as well as buffered the effects of stressful life events on psychological symptoms (Zimmerman, Ramirez-Valles, Zapert & Maton, 2000). Another study of resilience and risk factors influencing suicidal ideation and attempts in a large sample of Black and Latino youth observed that family closeness was the singular most important resilience factor related to decreased suicidality (O'Donnell, O'Donnell, Wardlaw & Stueve, 2004).…”

“…Higher scores on this scale indicated higher levels of perceived support from friends. Like the PSS-Fa, the PSS-Fr has been validated with young adult populations and employed in studies of young Black men (Procidano & Heller, 1983;Zimmerman et al, 2000). In this sample, the PPS-Fr has a Cronbach's a of .92, indicating strong internal consistency reliability.…”

Characteristics of Youth Seeking Emergency Care for Assault Injuries

“…47 Frequency of weapon perpetration and weapon victimization was measured by using questions from the CTS-2 response scale. 40,43,48,49 Substance Use Substance use was assessed by using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test and the Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Use Involvement Screening Tests. [50][51][52][53] Substance misuse was defined as meeting criteria for alcohol misuse (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test scores of $3 for ages 14-17 years and $4 for ages 18-24 years) or drug misuse (Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Use Involvement Screening Tests score of $4 for any drug subscales).…”