Purpose: This cross-sectional study tested the hypothesis that adolescents experience different types and degrees of social stress (general social stress, process-oriented stress, discrimination), resources (family relationships, coping, self-esteem), and mental distress (depression, somatic symptoms, suicidal ideation) depending on their ethnicity. Ethnic minority adolescents, particularly Hispanics, were expected to experience higher level of social stress and to have higher risk for mental distress than Anglo-Americans. This study also examined the interaction effect of ethnicity and social stress on mental distress as well as the interaction effect of ethnicity and resources on mental distress. Theoretical/Conceptual Framework: Choi’s model incorporating the concept of “ethnicity” into Hovey and King’s Model of acculturative stress, depression, and suicidal ideation guided this study. Subjects/Methods: Respondents included 287 middle-school students (144 Anglo-Americans, 66 African-Americans, and 77 Hispanics). They completed self-administered questionnaires: The DSM Scale for Depression, Somatic Symptom Scale, Social, Attitudinal, Familial, and Environmental Scale for Children, Family Environment Scale, Coping Scale, and Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale. To analyze the data, ANOVA, ANCOVA, and logistic regression analysis were used. Results: While Anglo-Americans, African-Americans, and Hispanics didn’t differ in the level of mental distress, Hispanics had a higher risk for suicidal ideation than Anglo-Americans and Hispanic females were at higher risk for depression than Anglo-American males. Additionally, compared to Anglo-Americans, Hispanics reported significantly higher scores on all three types of social stress. Compared to Anglo-Americans, African-Americans had higher scores on process-oriented stress and discrimination. Significant interaction effects were observed between ethnicity and social stress for somatic symptoms among African-Americans and Hispanics. Conclusions: The findings indicated that African-Americans and Hispanics experience a considerable amount of social stress although they may not present noticeable symptoms of mental distress. Longitudinal studies are needed to explore the long-term effects of social stress in the development of mental distress.
Session #1214 - Mental Health: Children & Adolescents
The 29th Annual MNRS Research Conference (April 1-4, 2005)