Department of Psychology, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
J Youth Adolesc. 2009 Apr;38(4):519-31. doi: 10.1007/s10964-009-9393-0. Epub 2009 Jan 31.
Experiences with racism are a common occurrence for African American youth and may result in negative self perceptions relevant for the experience of depressive symptoms. This study examined the longitudinal association between perceptions of racism and depressive symptoms, and whether perceived academic or social control mediated this association, in a community epidemiologically-defined sample of urban African American adolescents (N = 500; 46.4% female). Structural equation modeling revealed that experiences with racism were associated with low perceived academic control, which in turn was associated with increased depressive symptoms. Findings suggest that experiences with racism can have long lasting effects for African American youth's depressive symptoms, and highlight the detrimental effects of experiences with racism for perceptions of control in the academic domain. Implications for intervention are discussed.
非裔美国青少年经常会经历种族主义，这可能会导致他们对自身产生负面认知，从而出现抑郁症状。本研究以社区中具有代表性的城市非裔美国青少年（N=500；46.4%为女性）为研究对象，考察了种族主义知觉与抑郁症状之间的纵向关联，以及感知到的学业或社会控制是否在这种关联中起中介作用。结构方程模型表明，种族主义经历与低学业控制感有关，而学业控制感又与抑郁症状的增加有关。研究结果表明，种族主义经历会对非裔美国青少年的抑郁症状产生持久的影响，并强调了种族主义经历对学业领域控制感的不利影响。最后，本文讨论了干预的意义。
