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. 2012 Mar;48(2):406-21.
doi: 10.1037/a0025666. Epub 2011 Oct 3.

A developmental-contextual model of depressive symptoms in Mexican-origin female adolescents

Mayra Y Bámaca-Colbert  1 , Adriana J Umaña-Taylor, Jochebed G Gayles
Affiliations

A developmental-contextual model of depressive symptoms in Mexican-origin female adolescents

Mayra Y Bámaca-Colbert et al. Dev Psychol. 2012 Mar.

Abstract

The current study tested a developmental-contextual model of depressive symptomatology among Mexican-origin, female early and middle adolescents and their mothers. The final sample comprised 271 dyads. We examined the interrelations among cultural (i.e., acculturation dissonance), developmental (i.e., pubertal development and autonomy expectation discrepancies), and interpersonal (i.e., mother-daughter conflict and maternal supportive parenting) factors in predicting adolescents' depressive symptoms. For both early and middle adolescents, maternal support was negatively associated with mother-daughter conflict and depressive symptoms. Mother-daughter autonomy expectation discrepancies were positively associated with mother-daughter conflict, but this association was found only among early adolescents. Further, mother-daughter acculturation dissonance was positively associated with mother-daughter conflict but only among middle adolescents. Findings call for concurrently examining the interface of developmental, relational, and cultural factors in predicting female adolescents' depressive symptomatology and the potential differences by developmental stage (e.g., early vs. middle adolescence).

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Conceptual Model.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Initial Unconstrained Model Predicting Mexican-origin Early and Middle Adolescents’ Depressive Symptoms. Note. Standardized estimates presented for early and (middle) adolescents. Control variables are in grey, the first row of values under control variables presents the direct effects to adolescent depressive symptoms and the second row presents the direct effects to mother-daughter conflict. †p < .10, *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Final Model Predicting Mexican-origin Early and Middle Adolescents’ Depressive Symptoms. Note. Standardized estimates presented for early and (middle) adolescents. Control variables are in grey, the first row of values under control variables presents the direct effects to adolescent depressive symptoms and the second row presents the direct effects to mother-daughter conflict. †p < .10, *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001. aparameter value fixed to zero. bparameter constrained to be equal across groups.
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