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Published on: July 10, 2017
The Cumulative Influence of Perceived Discrimination, Stress, and Coping Responses on Symptoms of Depression Among
Eugenia Millender1, Rachel M Harris2, Jessica R Bagneris3
1Eugenia Millender, PhD, MS, RN, PMHNP-BC, CDE, FAAN, Center of Population Sciences for Health Equity, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA.
Background:
African American women have an elevated risk for experiencing depressive symptoms, and discrimination, stress, and coping contribute to symptoms of depression.
Aims:
We aimed to examine the associations between discrimination, stress, and coping on symptoms of depression among young African American mothers.
Methods:
In this retrospective study, we utilized a hierarchical linear regression to explore the effects of perceived racial discrimination, stress, and general and discrimination-related coping responses on depressive symptoms in a sample of African American mothers (N = 250). The data were drawn from the Intergenerational Impact of Genetic and Psychological Factors on Blood Pressure study (InterGEN), a study conducted between 2014 and 2019 and based in Connecticut.
Results:
After accounting for maternal age, level of education, and income, greater perceived racial discrimination (p = .03), higher levels of stress (p < .001), greater engagement in avoidance coping (p < .001), and use of passive coping responses to discrimination (p = .04) were uniquely associated with increased depressive symptoms. Other forms of coping, specifically, problem-solving and support seeking, did not appear to influence depressive symptoms in this sample.
Conclusion:
The findings highlight the negative impact of discrimination, heightened stress, and maladaptive coping on the emotional health of young African American mothers.
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