Racial discrimination predicts depressive symptoms throughout adolescence among Black youth

Experiences of racial discrimination are common among Black youth and predict worse mental health cross-sectionally and over time. Additional research is needed to address lingering questions regarding the direction of effect(s) underlying these patterns, differences in the magnitude of effects across adolescence, and gender differences. To address these gaps, the current study tested bidirectional linkages between racial discrimination and depressive symptoms at the between- (interpersonal) and within- (intrapersonal) level using 4 waves of data from 889 Black youth (54% female) from Georgia and Iowa. Participants reported experiences of racial discrimination and depressive symptoms at ages 10.6 years (Wave 1), 12.5 years (Wave 2), 15.7 years (Wave 3), and 18.8 years (Wave 4). The cross-lagged panel model (CLPM) was used to examine between-person associations over time, and the random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) was used to examine within-person associations over time. Results were consistent across models, revealing significant concurrent associations between racial discrimination and depressive symptoms, significant lagged effects from racial discrimination to depressive symptoms, and no significant lagged effects from depressive symptoms to racial discrimination. Effects did not differ across adolescence, and there were few gender differences in the degree of association between racial discrimination and depressive symptoms. Findings provide rigorous evidence that experiencing greater racial discrimination is associated with increases in depressive symptoms throughout adolescence and add to a growing body of work showing that racial discrimination can undermine mental health and well-being among Black youth. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).