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. 2011 May;72(10):1659-66.
doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.03.024. Epub 2011 Apr 5.

Stress trajectories, health behaviors, and the mental health of black and white young adults

Jason D Boardman  1 , Kari B Alexander
Affiliations

Stress trajectories, health behaviors, and the mental health of black and white young adults

Jason D Boardman et al. Soc Sci Med. 2011 May.

Abstract

This paper uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to examine the mental health of non-Hispanic black and white young adults in the US. We use latent growth curve modeling to characterize the typical stress trajectories experienced by black and white young adults spanning the bulk of their lives. We identify the following four stress trajectories: 1) relatively stress free; 2) stress peak at age 15 and a subsequent decline; 3) stress peak at age 17 and a subsequent decline; and 4) a moderately high chronic stress. Results indicate that black adolescents have significantly higher risk of being in all three of the stressful classes compared to white adolescents. Stress exposure is strongly associated with depression and the race differences in stress profiles account for a modest amount of the observed race differences in mental health. We do not observe any race differences in behavioral responses to stressors; black youth are no more likely than white youth to engage in poor health behaviors (e.g., smoking, drinking, or obesity) in response to stress. We provide tentative support for the notion that poor health behaviors partially reduce the association between stress and depression for blacks but not whites. These findings contribute to unresolved issues regarding mental and physical health disparities among blacks and whites.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Early life stress exposure among US adolescents: latent growth classes for stressful life events. Note: all data come from Waves I, II, and III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Values obtained from latent class trajectory modeling using the MMLCR package in R.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The estimated effect of chronic stress on depression for black and white adolescents. Note: all data come from Waves I and III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Values and error estimates derived from the parameter estimates in Table 4 using the prvalue command following the design based logistic regression routine in STATA 10.0
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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