Dual Ethnicity and Depressive Symptoms: Implications of Being Black and Latino in the United States

Abstract

This study investigated the expression of depressive symptoms in adolescents who are of Afro-Latino descent. Levels of expression of depressive symptoms were compared for four groups of adolescents in Grades 7 through 12 residing in the United States: European Americans, African Americans, Latinos, and Afro-Latinos. One hypothesis is that Afro-Latinos should exhibit higher levels of depressive symptoms than either African Americans or Latinos by virtue of being double minorities. An alternative hypothesis is that Afro-Latino youth will show lower levels of depressive symptomology because of their access to a broader repertoire of cultural resources when faced with stress and depression-inducing events. Results indicated that Afro-Latino females tended to exhibit higher levels of depressive symptoms than those of the other ethnic groups. Across all ethnic groups, adolescent females tended to show higher levels of depressive symptoms than adolescent males and older adolescents tended to show higher levels of depression than younger adolescents.