When Discrimination Hurts: The Longitudinal Impact of Increases in Peer Discrimination on Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms in Mexican-origin Youth

Outcomes are reported from a qualitative investigation addressing ethnic label selection, meaning, use, and influences upon Mexican-origin youth. Participants selected multiple labels with distinct meanings and influences. Findings indicate a need for school counselors to honor student label selection and to advocate for variable label use by school professionals and in school documentation. School counselors can provide resources and venues to facilitate student exploration of ethnic labels, as one key component of ethnic identity development.

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Acculturation, Optimism, and Relatively Fewer Depression Symptoms among Mexican Immigrants and Mexican Americans

Psychological Reports ◽

10.2466/pr0.103.2.566-576 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 103 (2) ◽

pp. 566-576 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Patricia González ◽

Gerardo M. González

Keyword(s):

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Mexican Americans ◽

Relative Deprivation ◽

Mexican Immigrants ◽

Rating Scale ◽

Depression Symptoms ◽

Mexican Origin ◽

Relative Lack ◽

Prevalence Of Depression ◽

Native Status

The mental health of individuals of Mexican origin may vary as a function of native status (i.e., Mexican born or USA born). Some have reported that Mexican Americans tend to display more depressive symptoms than Mexican immigrants. The present goal was to estimate the associations among acculturation and native status, and explore relative deprivation in the prevalence of depression. Participants included 153 individuals of Mexican origin who completed the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans, the Beck Depression Inventory–II, the Revised Generalized Expectancy for Success Scale, and relative deprivation questions. Analyses indicated women and those scoring low on acculturation were significantly more likely to report depressive symptoms. Participants who felt they had relatively better family happiness than Euro-Americans reported lower depressive symptoms. So participants' sex, acculturation, and relative lack of depressive symptoms allow better understanding of depressive symptoms among these Mexican Americans and Mexican immigrants.

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Hippocampal Volume as an Amplifier of the Effect of Social Context on Adolescent Depression

Clinical Psychological Science ◽

10.1177/2167702617699277 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 5 (4) ◽

pp. 632-649 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Roberta A. Schriber ◽

Zainab Anbari ◽

Richard W. Robins ◽

Rand D. Conger ◽

Paul D. Hastings ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Factor ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Social Context ◽

Adolescent Depression ◽

Protective Factor ◽

Hippocampal Volume ◽

Interactive Effects ◽

Mexican Origin ◽

Family Connectedness ◽

Affective Development

Recent models have focused on how brain-based individual differences in social sensitivity shape affective development in adolescence, when rates of depression escalate. Given the importance of the hippocampus in binding contextual and affective elements of experience, as well as its putative role in depression, we examined hippocampal volume as a moderator of the effects of social context on depressive symptoms in a sample of 209 Mexican-origin adolescents. Adolescents with larger versus smaller hippocampal volumes showed heightened sensitivity in their depressive symptoms to a protective factor inside the home (sense of family connectedness) and a risk factor outside the home (community crime exposure). These interactive effects uniquely predicted depressive symptoms and were greater for the left side, suggesting two independent social-contextual contributions to depression that were moderated by left hippocampal volume. Results elucidate complex brain-environment interplay in adolescent depression, offering clues about for whom and how social context plays a role.

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