Risk and Protective Factors for Depression in Diverse Ethnic Groups
Preston Visser1, B.S., Jameson K. Hirsch1, Ph.D., Angela Jones1, & Elizabeth Jeglic2, Ph.D.
East Tennessee State University, Department of Psychology1
John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York2
ABSTRACT
•The incidence and prevalence of depression may differ
between ethnicities, and successful prevention and treatment
of depression depends on the identification of general and
ethnicity-specific risk and protective factors.
•We tested the predictive power of anger, hopelessness, trait
hope, and religiosity on depression in an ethnically diverse
college sample.
•We found that risk and protective factors of depression
differ across ethnicities, which may have important
implications for clinical work and future research.
HYPOTHESES
ANALYSES
•Anger and hopelessness will be associated with
increased depression, whereas trait hope and
religiosity will be related to decreased depression.
Participants:
•27% Black, 47% Hispanic, 20% White; 6%
Asian
•Mean Age 19.66 (SD=3.27)
•Measures:
•Beck Depression Inventory–2nd Ed. (BDI-II)
•Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS)
•Fetzer Multidimensional Spirituality Measure
•Risk and protective factors for depression may also vary
across ethnic groups (Kennard et al, 2006; Perez 2002;
Traughber 2001).
•There is less research on differences in protective factors
across ethnicities; however, religion appears to be a buffer
against depression in some minority samples (Chassman et
al, 2005).
•Although trait hope and religious involvement are
associated with decreased depression in Whites, little is
known about ethnic differences in the effects of these
potentially protective characteristics (Jang et al, 2004; Gray
2005; Kennard et al, 2006; Mofidi et al, 2006 ).
•Goals Scale (Trait Hope)
•Multidimensional Anger Inventory (MAI)
0.8
0.7
Blacks
0.6
0.5
Hispanics
Whites
0.4
0.3
0.2
Asians
0.1
0
BDI-II
•Ethnic variation in risk and protective factors makes
understanding the etiology of depressive symptoms and the
development of successful treatments difficult; therefore,
efforts at clarification are important.
•We examined differences in the influence of risk factors
(hopelessness; anger) and protective factors (hope; global
religiosity and religious attendance) on the severity of
depressive symptoms in an ethnically diverse sample,
including Hispanics, Blacks, Asians, and Whites.
BHS
MAI
Hope
•Bivariate correlations indicate that anger was
significantly more strongly correlated with depression in
Asians than Hispanics (z= 2.12, p= .017) and Whites (z=
1.76, p= .039).
•Our regression models were robust, accounting for
between .537 R2 (Hispanics) and .833 R2 (Asians) of
variance.
•For the entire sample, hopelessness, anger, and trait hope
were significant predictors of depression; hopelessness
and anger were the strongest predictors of depression
(Stand β = .353 & .357, respectively).
•Standardized beta values indicate that risk and protective
factors varied in strength across ethnicities.
BDI-II and Correlates' Z Scores by Ethnicity
Z score (from a zero point)
•For instance, anger appears to be a stronger predictor of
risk for depression for Blacks than for whites (Murphy
1999; Waddell 2005 ), and hopelessness is a stronger risk
factor for Blacks and Hispanics than for Whites (Myers et
al, 2002; Sah, 2000).
RESULTS
•Mean levels of depression did not differ across
ethnicities.
METHODS
•Undergraduates (N = 339); 69% Female
•Depression is a significant public health problem, and some
ethnic groups may be at increased risk (Dunlop et al., 2003;
Greenberg et al, 2003; Iwata et al, 2002; Lewis-Fernandez et
al., 2005; Oquendo et al, 2001); however, not all studies
indicate ethnic differences (Hasin et al., 2005).
•Hierarchical, Multivariate Linear Regressions,
controlling for age and gender; ANOVA analyses
testing mean differences; Correlation Analyses
•Exploratory analyses will examine differences in
depression, and in the characteristics that might
confer risk and protection, across ethnic groups.
INTRODUCTION
DISCUSSION
•For Blacks and Hispanics, hopelessness was the
strongest predictor of depression. For Whites, anger and
hope were the strongest predictors, while hopelessness
was not significant. For Asians, anger was the strongest
predictor.
•Global religiosity was marginally significant in Blacks
(p= .059) and Asians (p= .054), and religious attendance
was not a significant predictor in any group.
Please address all correspondence to: Jameson
K. Hirsch, Ph.D., Dept of Psychology, ETSU;
Email: [email protected]; Phone: 423-439-4463.
Religiosity
Predictors of Depression: Standardized Beta Values
Blacks
•Ethnocultural background may influence the
development of depressive symptoms via its effects on the
salience of risk and protective factors for each ethnic
group (Umaña-Taylor & Updegraff, 2007; Lewis-Coles &
Constantine, 2006).
•Anger was a significant predictor for all ethnic groups,
suggesting that this is a risk factor that may always need
to be addressed therapeutically, despite ethnic
background.
•Hopelessness did not predict depression in Whites and
Asians, but was the strongest predictor for Blacks and
Hispanics, suggesting that, for these groups, a negative
view of the future and a poor outlook toward achievement
of future goals confer risk for depressive symptoms.
•Trait hope was a significant predictor of decreased
depressive symptoms for all ethnic groups, except for
Asians. For Blacks, Whites and Hispanics, therefore, the
presence of hopefulness appears to be a robust predictor
of fewer depressive symptoms, over and above the effects
of risk factors. Treatment of depression in these groups
may want to focus on bolstering “positive” characteristics,
in addition to reduction of traditional risk factors.
•Although our findings are inconsistent with some
research indicating a buffering effect of religiosity on
depression (Koenig & Larson, 2001), there was a
clinically-significant trend toward significance for Blacks
and Asians. It may be important for clinicians to explore
the potential for use of religious coping strategies with
Black and Asian clients.
•Understanding the etiology of depression from an
ethnocultural perspective, including factors that mitigate
or exacerbate risk within each ethnic group, is important
for the development of targeted interventions (Mahan,
2005).
•Limitations include the use of cross-sectional data, which
precludes causal examination of risk and protective
factors on depression. Power problems with analyses may
have occurred due to few Asian participants. Our diverse
ethnic sample is a strength, but use of college students
may limit generalizability.
Hopelessness
Anger
Hope
Religiosity
Overall R2
0.460***
0.237***
-0.198*
-0.168
0.639***
IMPLICATIONS
0.382***
0.312***
-0.263***
0.001
0.534***
•Differential treatment approaches for depression may be beneficial
depending on the ethnic and cultural background of the patient.
Whites
0.103
0.497***
-0.488***
0.065
0.594***
Asians
-0.140
0.803***
-0.197
0.369
0.796***
•Future, prospective research is necessary to better understand ethnic
and cultural variations in risk and protective factors for depression.
Hispanics