Racial and Ethnic Differences in Depression by Partner Status and the Presence of Children in the Household

Cumulative Disadvantage or Strained Advantage? Remote Schooling, Paid Work Status, and Parental Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, parents experienced difficulties around employment and children's schooling, likely with detrimental mental health implications. We analyze National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 data (N = 2,829) to estimate depressive symptom changes from 2019 to 2021 by paid work status and children's schooling modality, considering partnership status, gender, and race-ethnicity differences. We draw on cumulative disadvantage theory alongside strained advantage theory to test whether mental health declines were steeper for parents with more disadvantaged statuses or for parents with more advantaged statuses. Parents with work disruptions, without paid work, or with children in remote school experienced the greatest increases in depressive symptoms, with steepest increases among single parents without paid work and single parents with children in remote school (cumulative disadvantage), fathers without paid work (strained advantage), and White parents with remote school (strained advantage). We discuss the uneven impacts of the pandemic on mental health and implications for long-term health disparities.

At the intersection of race and immigration: a comprehensive review of depression and related symptoms within the US Black population

Although the literature on the differences between Black people and White people in terms of differences in major depressive disorder and related self-reported symptoms is robust, less robust is the literature on how these outcomes are patterned within the US Black population and why differences exist. Given increased ethnic diversity of Black Americans due to increases in immigration, continued aggregation may mask differences between Black ethnic-immigrant groups and Black Americans with more distant ancestral ties to Africa (African Americans). The purpose of this narrative review was to comprehensively synthesize the literature on depression and related symptoms within the US Black population across immigration- and ethnicity-related domains and provide a summary of mechanisms proposed to explain variation. Findings revealed substantial variation in the presence of these outcomes within the US Black population by nativity, region of birth, age at immigration, and Caribbean ethnic origin. Racial context and racial socialization were identified as important, promising mechanisms for better understanding variations by region of birth and among those born or socialized in the United States, respectively. Findings warrant data collection efforts and measurement innovation to better account for within-racial differences in outcomes under study. A greater appreciation of the growing ethnic-immigrant diversity within the US Black population may improve understanding of how racism differentially functions as a cause of depression and related symptoms within this group.

Examining the association between family status and depression in the UK Biobank

BACKGROUND

We examined associations between family status (living with a spouse or partner and number of children) and lifetime depression.

METHODS

We used data from the UK Biobank, a large prospective study of middle-aged and older adults. Lifetime depression was assessed as part of a follow-up mental health questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to estimate associations between family status and depression. We included extensive adjustment for social, demographic and other potential confounders, including depression polygenic risk scores.

RESULTS

52,078 participants (mean age = 63.6, SD = 7.6; 52% female) were included in our analyses. Living with a spouse or partner was associated with substantially lower odds of lifetime depression (OR = 0.67, 95% CI 0.62-0.74). Compared to individuals without children, we found higher odds of lifetime depression for parents of one child (OR = 1.17, 95% CI 1.07-1.27) and parents of three (OR = 1.11, 95% CI 1.03-1.20) or four or more children (OR = 1.27, 95% CI 1.14-1.42). Amongst those not cohabiting, having any number of children was associated with higher odds of lifetime depression. Our results were consistent across age groups, the sexes, neighbourhood deprivation and genetic risk for depression. Exploratory Mendelian randomisation analyses suggested a causal effect of number of children on lifetime depression.

LIMITATIONS

Our data did not allow distinguishing between non-marital and marital cohabitation. Results may not generalise to all ages or populations.

CONCLUSIONS

Living with a spouse or partner was strongly associated with reduced odds of depression. Having one or three or more children was associated with increased odds of depression, especially in individuals not living with a spouse or partner.

Latino Solo Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: Health Risks and Behaviors

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this descriptive report is to provide the first representative information on the sociodemographic profile and the prevalence of mental and physical health conditions of two "at-risk" groups of Latino caregivers: solo grandparent caregivers and single parents.

METHODS

The 2012 Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System was used to compare five dimensions of health on a sample of Latino solo grandparents and Latino single parents, raising their grandchildren/children alone. Bivariate and logistic regression comparative analyses were conducted on study measures.

RESULTS

Latino solo grandparents have a high prevalence of chronic health conditions, including arthritis (51%), depression (40%), diabetes (34%), and asthma (34%). Latino single parents have lower but troubling health risks, including depression (22%), diabetes (14%), and asthma (14%). Differences between the two groups were largely due to the grandparents older age.

DISCUSSION

Latino solo grandparents have a high prevalence of several chronic medical conditions. The prevalence of disorders is much lower for Latino single parents, although they too have disturbing health risks.

CONCLUSION

Latino solo grandparents perform their parenting role under intense physical and emotional strain. Health professionals can be instrumental in facilitating interventions that affect the well-being of this expanding family group.

Social Determinants of Depression Among Hispanic Women

BACKGROUND

Depression is the number one cause of disability in the world. Hispanic women are at a higher risk for depression than Caucasian and African American women. This is in part due to multiple social determinants of health that affect the individual, family, aggregates, and community.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the social determinants of depression among Hispanic women in South Florida.

DESIGN

This is a secondary cross-sectional data analysis. A total of 280 Hispanic women from South Florida between 18 and 50 years of age were analyzed.

RESULTS

Depression is prevalent among Hispanic women in South Florida (37.5%). Education, health status, and living with partner were significant predictors of depression in the sample.

CONCLUSION

Development of a culturally tailored risk assessment tool that highlights the social determinants of depression in Hispanic women is essential, as it could be used as a standard practice in primary care and other appropriate settings.

'Mommy, I miss daddy'. The effect of family structure on children's health in Brazil

This paper studies the relationship between single motherhood and children's height-for-age z-scores in Brazil. In order to isolate the causal effect between family structure and children's condition, we estimate an econometric model that uses male preference for firstborn sons and local sex ratios to instrument the probability of a woman becoming a single mother. Our results have a local average treatment effect interpretation (LATE). We find that children being raised by a single mother (whose marital status is affected by a firstborn girl and a low sex ratio) have a height-for-age z-score that is lower than that of children of similar characteristics that cohabit with both progenitors. We claim that the increasing trend of single motherhood in Brazil should be of concern in health policy design.

Depressive symptoms and compromised parenting in low-income mothers of infants and toddlers: distal and proximal risks

Low-income mothers develop depressive symptoms at higher rates than the general population, adding to the existing risk that economic hardship places on their infants and toddlers. Emphasizing a few key intervention targets, an approach that is especially relevant to mothers when depressive symptoms compromise their energy and concentration, can improve interventions with populations facing adversity. The goal of this study was to identify contextual risk factors that significantly contributed to depressive symptoms and that, in combination with depressive symptoms, were associated with compromised parenting. Using baseline data from 251 ethnically diverse mothers from six Early Head Start programs in the Northeastern and Southeastern US, who were recruited for a clinical trial of an in-home intervention, Belsky's ecological framework of distal to proximal levels of influence was used to organize risk factors for depressive symptoms in hierarchical regression models. Under stress, mothers of toddlers reported more severe depressive symptoms than mothers of infants, supporting the need for depressive symptom screening and monitoring past the immediate postpartum period. Multivariate models revealed intervention targets that can focus depression prevention and intervention efforts, including helping mothers reduce chronic day-to-day stressors and conflicts with significant others, and to effectively handle challenging toddler behaviors, especially in the face of regional disciplinary norms. Presence of a live-in partner was linked to more effective parenting, regardless of participants' depressive symptom severity.