The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #42798

Nakesha Faison, MS, Program for Research on Black Americans, University of Michigan, 426 Thompson St., P.O. 1248, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248, 734-763-2167, nfaison@umich.edu and Cleopatra Caldwell, PhD, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 1420 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109.

This study examined the influence of discrimination, maternal support and parental monitoring on the psychological well being (i.e., depression, self-esteem, and life satisfaction) of a sample of 79 African American adolescents between the ages of 13 and 17 years old. Face-to-face interviews were conducted to assess youth's perceptions of parental behaviors as well as their experiences with discrimination and their own psychological well being. Data are from the 1995 Detroit Area Study, a multi-stage probability sample of adults and adolescents living in the same household. Results suggest that experiences with discrimination were associated with less self-esteem, while maternal support and parental monitoring were both related to less depressive symptoms, more self-esteem and life satisfaction among African American youth. Findings at the multivariate level of analyses indicate that the influences of maternal support on youth depressive symptoms and self-esteem may be mediated by parental monitoring behavior. Further, experiences with discrimination remained significant for youth self-esteem after controlling for the influences of gender, age, and both types of parental behaviors. The implications of these findings will be discussed as they relate to mental health service delivery and family interventions aimed at African American youth.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to

• Recognize three measures of psychological well being important for adolescent development.
• Identify two scientifically measurable parenting behaviors that have been found to be protective factors for youth risk behaviors.
• Discuss application of findings for family interventions focused on strengthening parent-child relationships among African American families.

Keywords: African American,

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.