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Published on: July 10, 2017
Parental Racism-Related Stress and Child Depression: Disparities Across Income and Race/Ethnicity in a National
Elizabeth Jelsma1, Nema Kebbeh, Rosenda Murillo
1Author Affiliations: University of Houston, Houston, TX (Jelsma, Kebbeh, and Murillo).
Background:
Vicariously experienced racism-related stress is a key social determinant of child depression, yet national data on racial/ethnic and income disparities in this relationship are limited.
Objectives:
This study tested whether non-Hispanic Black (NHB) children and children from lower income households experience more frequent depression linked to parent-experienced racism-related stress than other groups.
Methods:
In the 2023 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), 1712 parents of children from minoritized racial/ethnic groups aged 5-17 years (weighted N = 37.7 million) reported their own experiences of racism-related stress and their child's depression. Multivariable ordinal weighted least squares regression assessed associations between parent-experienced racism-related stress and child depression, with moderation by income and race/ethnicity.
Results:
Parent-experienced racism-related stress was significantly associated with more frequent child depression. This relationship was stronger among children from middle- and lowest-income households and among NHB children compared with Hispanic children.
Conclusions:
Children from lower income families and NHB children are more vulnerable to depression associated with parental racism-related stress. These findings highlight the need to consider both direct and vicarious racism-related stressors in child mental health research and interventions.
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