Social Support, Everyday Discrimination, and Depressive Symptoms Among Older African Americans: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Background and Objectives The purpose of the study is to explore the long-term effects of everyday discrimination on depressive symptoms among older African Americans, as well as the moderating role of social support in this association. Research Design and Methods Mixed-effects negative binomial regression analyses were performed on data selected from six waves of the Health and Retirement Study (2006-2016; baseline N=1144). The number of depressive symptoms was calculated based on an 8-item CES-D measure. Everyday discrimination was measured by using a 6-item scale. Contact with and perceived support from extended family and friends were assessed. Results Older African Americans who experienced more frequent perceived discrimination had more depressive symptoms over time. Significant interactions between discrimination and perceived support from extended family and friends were found, indicating that among older African Americans who reported higher support from extended family and friends, perceived discrimination was positively associated with depressive symptoms over time. However, perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms were not longitudinally related among those who reported lower levels of perceived support. Discussion and Implications This is one of the few studies to examine the effects of discrimination on depressive symptoms over time and the first longitudinal study to test the role of social support in coping with discrimination in older African Americans. This study extends cross-sectional works on discrimination and mental health, indicating that experiences of discrimination can result in worse mental health over time. The significant interactions are consistent with the resource mobilization framework, which suggests that individuals who are more negatively affected by discrimination (more depressive symptoms) are more likely to reach out to friends and family to cope with discrimination. Translational Significance Older African Americans who experience more discrimination and depressive symptoms are more likely to seek support from extended family and friends for coping with discrimination over time. The study findings suggest that older African Americans may benefit from interventions based on stress coping resources via support from extended family and friends in coping with discrimination.

Association of Active Coping to Unfair Treatment with Perceived Stress and Depressive Symptoms in African Americans: MH-GRID Study

“…Additionally, although the focus of this paper is not on psychotherapy, rather than focusing on the broad scope of social support we focused on one speci c aspect of social support-talking. Many studies have examined the role of social support on depressive symptoms or perceived stress in African Americans, but only a few have solely looked at the role of talking to someone [48][49][50]. The role of talking on depressive symptoms has been studied before within a sample of pregnant African American women [51].…”

Posición social y obesidad en población chilena: mediadores y moderadores psicológicos

“…Esto se evidencia en los hallazgos de este estudio, que pese a tener un tamaño de efecto pequeño pero significativo, indica que la PS podría asociarse con obesidad abdominal mediante una secuencia de relaciones que considera variables tales como la discriminación percibida, afectividad negativa y calidad de la dieta. Este resultado es consistente con estudios previos que advierten que personas con menor PS están mayormente expuestas a experiencias de discriminación (Okoro et al, 2020), las cuales generan mayores niveles de estrés (Urzúa et al, 2021) y síntomas depresivos (Qin et al, 2020), lo que a su vez, genera mayor consumo de comida chatarra (Agurs-Collins & Fuemmeler, 2011), influyendo finalmente en el aumento del perímetro de cintura (Mozaffarian, 2016). Pese a lo anterior, es importante considerar que este hallazgo no es conclusivo y debe ser investigado en otros estudios.…”

Race and Mental Health Among Older Adults: Within- and Between-Group Comparisons

“… Qin and colleagues (2020) examined the role of social support (contact and perceived support) from extended family and friends in moderating the long-term effects of everyday discrimination on depressive symptoms among older African Americans (using Wave 8 through Wave 13 of HRS data). Findings confirm prior work indicating that more perceived discrimination is associated with more depressive symptoms over time.…”