Race, Socioeconomic Position and Depression: The Mental Health Costs of Upward Mobility.

Abstract

The relationship between socioeconomic position (SEP) and depression among African Americans was explored in this dissertation. Several SEP indicators, specifically household income, education, parental education, net worth, and home value, were used to predict odds of depression among African Americans. This dissertation also considered how experiences of racial discrimination and the utilization of high-effort coping (John Henryism) were related to odds of depression for African Americans. Data for this dissertation were drawn from the National Survey of American Life (NSAL), which includes a nationally representative sample of African Americans. It was hypothesized that SEP would be related to increased odds of depression for African Americans. Analyses revealed that home value and parental education predict greater odds of depression among African Americans. Conversely, household income and years of education predicted decreased odds of depression for African Americans. However, the inverse association between household income, education, and depression was only observed once the effects of home value were accounted for in the multivariate logistic regression model predicting depression. It was also hypothesized that increased levels of SEP would be related to greater reports of racial discrimination and higher John Henryism scores. Analyses indicated that higher SEP is related to greater reports of racial discrimination among African Americans. Additionally, racial discrimination was related to increased odds of depression. Parental education and home value were positively related to John Henryism while there was inverse association observed among household income, education, and John Henryism. There was no relationship between John Henryism and depression. The results of this dissertation indicate that it is important to consider both childhood SEP and indicators of wealth in the examination of depression among African Americans. Results also highlight the fact that increases in SEP are accompanied with increased exposure to racial discrimination for African Americans, which poses a threat to the mental health of African Americans. Public health researchers should explore stressors that African Americans face that may undermine the health benefits of improved SEP.