Violence and Other Stressful Life Events as Triggers of Depression and Anxiety: What Psychosocial Resources Protect African American Mothers?

AbstractComorbidity of internalizing and externalizing problems and its risk and protective factors have not been well incorporated into developmental research, especially among racial minority youth from high-poverty neighborhoods. The present study identified a latent comorbid factor as well as specific factors underlying internalizing and externalizing problems among 592 African American adolescents living in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods (291 male; M age = 15.9 years, SD = 1.43 years). Stressful life events and racial discrimination were associated with higher comorbid problems, whereas stressful life events and exposure to violence were associated with higher specific externalizing problems. Collective efficacy was associated with both lower specific externalizing problems and lower comorbid problems. Moreover, high collective efficacy buffered the risk effects of stressful life events and racial discrimination on comorbid problems. Our results demonstrated the advantages of latent variable modeling to understanding comorbidity by articulating impacts of risk factors on comorbid and specific components underlying internalizing and externalizing problems. They also highlighted the protective effect of collective efficacy in mitigating risks for these problems. These findings broadly call for more studies on comorbidities in developmental psychopathology among youth from diverse sociocultural backgrounds.

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African American Children's Depressive Symptoms: The Prospective Effects of Neighborhood Disorder, Stressful Life Events, and Parenting

American Journal of Community Psychology ◽

10.1007/s10464-007-9092-5 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 39 (1-2) ◽

pp. 163-176 ◽

Cited By ~ 53

Author(s):

Misaki N. Natsuaki ◽

Xiaojia Ge ◽

Gene H. Brody ◽

Ronald L. Simons ◽

Frederick X. Gibbons ◽

...

Keyword(s):

African American ◽

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Life Events ◽

Stressful Life Events ◽

Stressful Life ◽

Neighborhood Disorder

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Psychological Distress and Stressful Life Events in Pediatric Complex Regional Pain Syndrome

Pain Research and Management ◽

10.1155/2015/139329 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 20 (4) ◽

pp. 189-194 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Julia Wager ◽

Hannah Brehmer ◽

Gerrit Hirschfeld ◽

Boris Zernikow

Keyword(s):

Abdominal Pain ◽

Life Events ◽

Stressful Life Events ◽

Pain Treatment ◽

Pain Syndrome ◽

Stressful Life ◽

Primary Headaches ◽

Depression And Anxiety ◽

Functional Abdominal Pain ◽

Symptoms Of Depression

BACKGROUND: There is little knowledge regarding the association between psychological factors and complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) in children. Specifically, it is not known which factors precipitate CRPS and which result from the ongoing painful disease.OBJECTIVES: To examine symptoms of depression and anxiety as well as the experience of stressful life events in children with CRPS compared with children with chronic primary headaches and functional abdominal pain.METHODS: A retrospective chart study examined children with CRPS (n=37) who received intensive inpatient pain treatment between 2004 and 2010. They were compared with two control groups (chronic primary headaches and functional abdominal pain; each n=37), who also received intensive inpatient pain treatment. Control groups were matched with the CRPS group with regard to admission date, age and sex. Groups were compared on symptoms of depression and anxiety as well as stressful life events.RESULTS: Children with CRPS reported lower anxiety and depression scores compared with children with abdominal pain. A higher number of stressful life events before and after the onset of the pain condition was observed for children with CRPS.CONCLUSIONS: Children with CRPS are not particularly prone to symptoms of anxiety or depression. Importantly, children with CRPS experienced more stressful life events than children with chronic headaches or abdominal pain. Prospective long-term studies are needed to further explore the potential role of stressful life events in the etiology of CRPS.

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