Childhood Maltreatment Amplifies the Association Between Relationship Functioning and Depressive Symptoms Among Rural African American Couples

2021 ◽  
pp. 026540752110532
Author(s):  
Victoria King ◽  
Justin A Lavner ◽  
Chalandra M Bryant ◽  
Steven RH Beach
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Childhood Maltreatment ◽  
Family Of Origin ◽  
Relationship Functioning ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Direct Examination ◽  
Physical Neglect ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
African American Couples

Despite considerable literature documenting associations between relationship functioning and depressive symptoms, there has been relatively little direct examination of this association among African American couples. Likewise, little research has investigated factors that may exacerbate this association. The current study addressed this gap by investigating longitudinal associations between relationship functioning and depressive symptoms among 344 rural African American couples and by examining whether experiences of childhood maltreatment (i.e., childhood physical neglect and childhood physical abuse) amplify this association. Results indicated relationship functioning and depressive symptoms were negatively associated, initially and over time, for both men and women. Additionally, childhood maltreatment moderated several of these associations, such that associations between relationship functioning and depressive symptoms were generally strongest for those reporting greater levels of childhood maltreatment. This pattern of results suggests that experiences of childhood maltreatment may amplify negative associations between adult relationship functioning and depressive symptoms among African American couples, providing further evidence that adverse family-of-origin experiences can contribute to negative consequences later in the life course.

scholarly journals Discrimination, Stress, and Health Across the Life Course

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 580-581
Author(s):  
Roland Thorpe ◽  
Carl Hill
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Health Disparities ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Mortality Data ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Everyday Discrimination ◽  
African American Health

Abstract There is a paucity of research that seeks to understand why race disparities in health across the life course remain elusive. Two such explanations that have been garnering attention is stress and discrimination. This symposium contains papers seeking to address the impact of discrimination or stress on African American health or health disparities across the life course. First, Nguyen and colleagues examine 1) the associations between discrimination and objective and subjective social isolation and 2) how these associations vary by age in using data from the National Survey of American Life. Discrimination was positively associated with being subjectively isolated from friends only and family only. This relationship varied by age. Discrimination did not predict objective isolation. Second, Brown examines evidence of the black-white paradox in anxiety and depressive symptoms among older adults using data from 6,019 adults ages 52+ from the 2006 HRS. After adjusting for socioeconomic factors, everyday discrimination, chronic conditions, and chronic stress, there are no black-white differences in anxiety and depressive symptoms. Third, Cobb and colleagues investigate the joint consequences of multiple dimensions of perceived discrimination on mortality risk using mortality data from the 2006-2016 HRS. The authors report the number of attributed reasons for everyday discrimination is a particularly salient risk factor for mortality in later life. This collection of papers provides insights into how discrimination or stress impacts African American health or health disparities in middle to late life.

scholarly journals Racial discrimination and relationship functioning among African American couples.

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 686-691 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin A. Lavner ◽  
Allen W. Barton ◽  
Chalandra M. Bryant ◽  
Steven R. H. Beach
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Relationship Functioning ◽  
African American Couples

Relationship stigma and well-being among adults in interracial and same-sex relationships

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 3408-3428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Rosenthal ◽  
Ashleigh Deosaran ◽  
DaSean L. Young ◽  
Tyrel J. Starks
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Dyadic Coping ◽  
Relationship Functioning ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Self Rated Health ◽  
Different Sources

Stigmatization of interracial and same-sex relationships persists, with negative consequences for relationship functioning and mental health. We extended past research to examine consequences of relationship stigma from different sources (family, friends, public) for well-being (anxiety, depressive symptoms, overall self-rated health), potential buffers (egalitarianism, dyadic coping), and possible mediated pathways (to overall self-rated health through anxiety and/or depressive symptoms). Among 467 U.S. adults in interracial and/or same-sex relationships, relationship stigma from friends was associated with greater depressive symptoms. Being in a same-sex relationship moderated the associations of relationship stigma from family with anxiety and depressive symptoms. Egalitarianism moderated the association of relationship stigma from public with anxiety symptoms, and dyadic coping moderated the association of relationship stigma from family with depressive symptoms. Relationship stigma from friends was also indirectly associated with poorer overall self-rated health through the mechanism of greater depressive symptoms. Findings support that relationship stigma may have adverse consequences for individual well-being. Further, egalitarianism and dyadic coping may be buffers. More research is important to identify how to support the increasing numbers of individuals in stigmatized relationships.

Supplemental Private Health Insurance and Depressive Symptoms in Older Married Couples

2005 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 293-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meeyoung Oh Min ◽  
Aloen L. Townsend ◽  
Baila Miller ◽  
Michael J. Rovine
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Health Insurance ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Private Health Insurance ◽  
Depressive Symptomatology ◽  
Oldest Old ◽  
Married Couples ◽  
Supplemental Insurance ◽  
White Couples ◽  
African American Couples

Stress process theory is applied to examine lack of supplemental private health insurance as a risk factor for depressive symptomatology among older married couples covered by Medicare. Dyadic data from 130 African-American couples and 1,429 White couples in the 1993 Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest-Old Survey were analyzed using hierarchical generalized linear modeling. Lack of supplemental insurance is operationalized at the household level in terms of neither spouse covered, one spouse covered, or both spouses covered. Controlling for covariates at both individual and couple levels, supplemental insurance has significant impact on depression, but the pattern differs by race. White couples report the highest depression when neither spouse is covered by private health insurance; African-American couples report the highest depression when only one spouse is covered. Results suggest lack of supplemental private health insurance coverage is a stressor that significantly affects depressive symptoms.

Childhood Neglect History, Depressive Symptoms, and Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration by College Students

2020 ◽  
pp. 088626051990030
Author(s):  
Carolyn L. Brennan ◽  
Robyn A. Borgman ◽  
Samantha S. Watts ◽  
Rebecca A. Wilson ◽  
Kevin M. Swartout
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Childhood Maltreatment ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Childhood Neglect ◽  
Physical Neglect ◽  
Ipv Perpetration ◽  
The Impact

College students experience intimate partner violence (IPV) at an alarming rate, and preventing such violence depends on identifying factors that contribute to perpetration. Although there is extensive research that has established a link between childhood neglect and later physical IPV perpetration, less is known about the specific mechanisms through which childhood neglect leads to IPV perpetration. In the present study, we examined potential mediators of the relationship between childhood neglect and IPV perpetration by college students, with special emphasis on the role of depressive symptoms and IPV victimization. A total of 302 college students reported on their experiences of childhood maltreatment, depressive symptoms, and IPV victimization and perpetration. Results indicate that increasing levels of childhood emotional and physical neglect correspond with increasing rates of IPV perpetration, after accounting for the effect of childhood emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. This effect between childhood neglect and IPV perpetration was fully mediated by the combination of IPV victimization and depressive symptoms for the overall sample. However, when examining the model for men and women separately, only the indirect effect through victimization remained statistically significant for men. Our findings suggest that research on the link between childhood neglect and IPV perpetration should also consider the impact of IPV victimization, as neglect may lead to IPV perpetration within the context of a mutually aggressive relationship. Furthermore, these findings indicate that childhood neglect leads to long-term emotional consequences that contribute to later IPV perpetration, and treating depressive symptoms may help prevent IPV perpetration against college students who experienced childhood neglect.

scholarly journals Family Antecedents and Consequences of Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms from Adolescence to Young Adulthood: A Life Course Investigation

2008 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 468-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. A. S. Wickrama ◽  
Rand D. Conger ◽  
Frederick O. Lorenz ◽  
Tony Jung
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Depressive Symptom ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Transition To Adulthood ◽  
Family Of Origin ◽  
Growth Parameters ◽  
Poor Mental Health ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
Negative Slope ◽  
The Life Course

Using prospective data from 485 adolescents over a 10-year period, the present study identifies distinct segments of depressive symptom trajectories—a nonsignificant slope during adolescence and a significant negative slope during the transition to adulthood. The study hypothesized that different age-graded life experiences would differentially influence these depressive symptom growth parameters. The findings show that early stressful experiences associated with family-of-origin SES affect the initial level of depressive symptoms. Experiences with early transitional events during adolescence explain variation in the slope of depressive symptoms during the transition to adulthood. The growth parameters of depressive symptoms and an early transition from adolescence to adulthood constrain young adult social status attainment. Consistent with the life-course perspective, family-of-origin adversity is amplified across the life-course by successively contingent adverse circumstances involving life-transition difficulties and poor mental health. The findings also provide evidence for intergenerational transmission of social adversity through health trajectories and social pathways.

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