Discrimination, cognitive styles, and their associations with adolescents' mental and physical health

This study is based on the hopelessness theory of depression and previous research on perceived everyday discrimination (PED) and both depressive symptoms and Interleukin-6 (an inflammatory cytokine; IL-6) in adolescents. The purpose of this study is to examine the negative attribution, self, and consequence cognitive styles (CSs) proposed in the hopelessness theory as a possible mechanism underlying the association between PED and inflammation in adolescents and expand our understanding of the comorbidities between depressive symptoms and systemic inflammation (IL-6). This cross-sectional study featured a sample of 102 adolescents aged 13-16 (M = 14.10, SD = 0.52) who identified as White (47.5%), Black (41.4%), Mixed Race (7.1%), Latino (2%), and other (2%). Data analysis was conducted using PROCESS to compute regressions and effects between PED, negative CSs, depressive symptoms, and Interleukin-6. Results showed that negative attribution CS is the only negative CS associated with PED, depressive symptoms, and IL-6. Negative attribution CS is also the only negative CS of the three negative CSs that mediates both the association between PED and depressive symptoms and PED and IL-6 in our adolescent sample. Overall, these results indicate that individual negative CSs proposed in the hopelessness theory impact adolescents' physical and mental outcomes differently, which can inform targeted treatments. Nurses should provide cognitive-based interventions and promote societal-level change to reduce the experience and impact of PED on the mental and physical health of their adolescent patients.

Perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms: What role does the cognitive triad play?

OBJECTIVE

The present study was designed to integrate perceived everyday discrimination (PED) as stressor in Beck's cognitive theory of depression. We focused on the relationships between PED, the individual components of the cognitive triad, and depressive symptoms and the role of gender and race in these relationships.

METHOD

Participants included 243 technical and community college students (women: 59%; men: 41%; Black: 30%; White: 51%). They completed measures examined PED, the cognitive triad, and depressive symptoms.

RESULTS

Conducting mediation analyses using PROCESS 4.1.1, we found significant indirect effects from PED on depressive symptoms through negative views of the self and world. The indirect effect through negative views of the future was not significant. The indirect effects of negative views of the world and future were significantly stronger in women participants than men participants and the indirect effect of negative views of the world was significantly stronger in White students than Black students.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings generally support the integration of PED as stressor into Beck's cognitive theory independent of gender and race. This highlights the responsibility of therapists to assist clients in coping with PED and to advocate for equality within organizations, communities, and society in general.

Cognitive Triad and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescence: Specificity and Overlap

Adolescence is a critical period for the development of depressive symptoms and the understanding of vulnerability factors that facilitate their onset is pivotal. In this study, we focused on Beck's cognitive triad, namely its three-fold structure, comprising views of the self, world, and future. Despite its crucial role in the cognitive theory of depression, the relationship between the cognitive triad and depressive symptoms in adolescence is still unclear. In our study, we adopted a meta-analytic commonality analysis approach, in order to clarify whether the three components of the triad overlap in accounting for depressive symptoms, or they show distinct profiles of association. By relying on six independent samples of early adolescents (age range = 13-14: n = 174, 66% female, n = 347, 41% female), mid adolescents (age range = 15-17: n = 304, 61% female; n = 92, 34% female), and late adolescents (age range = 18-21: n = 217, 84% female, n = 101, 56% female), we showed that the views of the self, world, and future substantially overlap in accounting for depressive symptoms, although specific areas of distinctiveness could be detected. Moreover, the association between the cognitive triad and depressive symptoms appeared to be a function of both the developmental phase and gender. Furthermore, the cognitive triad emerged as specifically related to symptoms related to negative mood, absence of positive mood, and negative appraisal of the past. These findings advance our understanding of cognitive vulnerability for depressive symptoms in adolescence.

Adverse childhood experiences exacerbate the association between day-to-day discrimination and mental health symptomatology in undergraduate students

BACKGROUND

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and day-to-day discrimination (hereafter, "discrimination") both contribute to mental health symptomatology in young adulthood, but how these constructs interact and whether they are associated with mental health remains unclear. This study evaluated whether the relation between discrimination in young adulthood and mental health symptomatology varied as a function of ACEs exposure.

METHODS

Undergraduates (n = 251) completed self-report measures related to ACEs, discrimination, and mental health symptomatology (i.e., depression, anxiety, somatization, and psychological distress). Linear and logistic regression models were implemented to test for potential exacerbation effects of ACEs on the relation between discrimination and mental health symptomatology.

RESULTS

Participants with greater discrimination exposure and ACEs reported significantly more depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms, along with more psychological distress, relative to those with less discrimination exposure and few or no ACEs.

LIMITATIONS

Data were cross-sectional, thus, causality cannot be inferred. ACEs and discrimination measures examined ACE counts and general discrimination, respectively, which did not allow for examination of possible differences across specific ACEs (e.g., childhood sexual abuse vs. neglect) or specific types of discrimination (e.g., sexual-orientation-based discrimination vs. race-based discrimination).

CONCLUSIONS

These results are among the first to inform the conceptualization of ACEs and discrimination in etiological models of young adults' mental health. Both ACEs and discrimination, rather than exposure to only one of these stressors, may be synergistically associated with young adults' mental health symptomatology. Clinicians could address stress-sensitive mental health issues by assessing for both ACEs and discrimination exposure.