Hargrove Taylor W
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Soc Forces. 2024 Jun;102(4):1398-1423. doi: 10.1093/sf/soad126. Epub 2023 Sep 30.
Prior research documents higher levels of depressive symptoms among Black Americans relative to Whites. Yet, we know less about the role of other dimensions of stratification (e.g., skin tone) in shaping mental health inequality between Black and White adults, and whether mental health trajectories by race and skin tone among Black adults are contingent upon social contexts in childhood and adolescence. To address these gaps, this study asks: 1) to what extent do self-identified race and interviewer-rated skin tone among Black respondents shape inequalities in depressive symptoms between Black and White Americans across ages 12-42? 2) Are trajectories of depressive symptoms by race and skin tone among Black respondents contingent on school racial contexts (e.g., school racial composition)? Using five waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health and growth curve models, results suggest trajectories of depressive symptoms across ages 12-42 vary by race, school racial context, and skin tone among Black respondents. Specifically, Black students rated as having very dark, dark, and medium brown skin who attended high proportion Black schools in adolescence experienced lower levels of depressive symptoms than their White and light-skinned Black counterparts, particularly across the teen years and early 20s. Conversely, attending higher proportion White schools led to increases in depressive symptoms across earlier ages for Black students, particularly those who fell within the middle of the skin color continuum. Findings highlight competing advantages and disadvantages of navigating racialized spaces in childhood/adolescence for Black Americans of different skin tones.
先前的研究表明，相对于白人，美国黑人的抑郁症状水平更高。然而，我们对其他分层维度（如肤色）在塑造黑人和白人成年人心理健康不平等方面所起的作用了解较少，也不清楚黑人成年人中按种族和肤色划分的心理健康轨迹是否取决于童年和青少年时期的社会环境。为了填补这些空白，本研究提出以下问题：1）在12至42岁的美国黑人受访者中，自我认同的种族和访谈者评定的肤色在多大程度上塑造了黑人和白人之间抑郁症状的不平等？2）黑人受访者中按种族和肤色划分的抑郁症状轨迹是否取决于学校的种族环境（如学校的种族构成）？利用青少年到成人健康纵向研究的五波数据和增长曲线模型，结果表明，12至42岁期间抑郁症状的轨迹因种族、学校种族环境和黑人受访者的肤色而异。具体而言，在青少年时期就读于黑人比例较高学校的被评定为肤色非常深、深和中等棕色的黑人学生，其抑郁症状水平低于他们的白人及浅肤色黑人同龄人，尤其是在青少年时期和20岁出头的时候。相反，就读于白人比例较高学校会导致黑人学生在更早年龄段的抑郁症状增加，尤其是那些肤色处于中等范围的学生。研究结果凸显了不同肤色的美国黑人在童年/青少年时期置身于种族化环境中的竞争优势和劣势。
