IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v22y2025i9p1323-d1732910.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Everyday Discrimination in Young Adulthood and Depressive Symptoms at Early Midlife: The Moderating Role of Parent–Child Relationships

Author

Listed:
  • Binoli Herath

    (College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, 425 N. 5th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA)

  • Xing Zhang

    (College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, 425 N. 5th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA)

Abstract

Discrimination has been linked to greater stress and higher levels of depressive symptoms. However, there has been no research to date that has examined how life course inequality due to everyday discrimination is associated with mental health outcomes later in life. Using data from Waves I, IV, and V of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) from 1994 to 2018, we examined how everyday discrimination in young adulthood (Wave IV) was associated with depressive symptoms at early midlife (Wave V). We also examined how parent–child relationships in young adulthood (maternal and paternal closeness; satisfaction of communication with mothers and fathers) moderated this association. We analyzed two sub samples: a mother sample (n = 9390) and a father sample (n = 8229). Results from both showed that everyday discrimination in young adulthood was significantly associated with depressive symptoms at early midlife, and parent–child relationships served as significant protective factors against depression. Mental health policy and intervention efforts should address how discrimination experienced in young adulthood can have enduring adverse effects on mental health into early midlife and invest in strategies that promote supportive parent–child relationships as protective resources.

Suggested Citation

  • Binoli Herath & Xing Zhang, 2025. "Everyday Discrimination in Young Adulthood and Depressive Symptoms at Early Midlife: The Moderating Role of Parent–Child Relationships," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 22(9), pages 1-20, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:9:p:1323-:d:1732910
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/9/1323/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/9/1323/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Williams, D.R. & Neighbors, H.W. & Jackson, J.S., 2003. "Racial/ethnic discrimination and health: Findings from community studies," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(2), pages 200-208.
    2. Dale Dannefer, 2003. "Cumulative Advantage/Disadvantage and the Life Course: Cross-Fertilizing Age and Social Science Theory," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 58(6), pages 327-337.
    3. Schulz, A.J. & Gravlee, C.C. & Williams, D.R. & Israel, B.A. & Mentz, G. & Rowe, Z., 2006. "Discrimination, symptoms of depression, and self-rated health among African American women in Detroit: Results from a longitudinal analysis," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 96(7), pages 1265-1270.
    4. Blackwell, Debra L. & Hayward, Mark D. & Crimmins, Eileen M., 2001. "Does childhood health affect chronic morbidity in later life?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 52(8), pages 1269-1284, April.
    5. Aprile D. Benner & Shanting Chen & Celeste C. Fernandez & Mark D. Hayward, 2024. "The Potential for Using a Shortened Version of the Everyday Discrimination Scale in Population Research with Young Adults: A Construct Validation Investigation," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 53(2), pages 804-838, May.
    6. Krieger, Nancy & Smith, Kevin & Naishadham, Deepa & Hartman, Cathy & Barbeau, Elizabeth M., 2005. "Experiences of discrimination: Validity and reliability of a self-report measure for population health research on racism and health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(7), pages 1576-1596, October.
    7. Harnois, Catherine E., 2022. "What do we measure when we measure perceptions of everyday discrimination?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    8. Krieger, N., 2012. "Methods for the scientific study of discrimination and health: An ecosocial approach," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 102(5), pages 936-945.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dušan Drbohlav & Dagmar Dzúrová, 2017. "Social Hazards as Manifested Workplace Discrimination and Health (Vietnamese and Ukrainian Female and Male Migrants in Czechia)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-16, October.
    2. Gee, Gilbert C. & Spencer, Michael & Chen, Juan & Yip, Tiffany & Takeuchi, David T., 2007. "The association between self-reported racial discrimination and 12-month DSM-IV mental disorders among Asian Americans nationwide," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(10), pages 1984-1996, May.
    3. Gee, Gilbert & Walsemann, Katrina, 2009. "Does health predict the reporting of racial discrimination or do reports of discrimination predict health? Findings from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(9), pages 1676-1684, May.
    4. Gilbert, Paul A. & Zemore, Sarah E., 2016. "Discrimination and drinking: A systematic review of the evidence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 178-194.
    5. Yoo, Hyung Chol & Gee, Gilbert C. & Takeuchi, David, 2009. "Discrimination and health among Asian American immigrants: Disentangling racial from language discrimination," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(4), pages 726-732, February.
    6. Colen, Cynthia G. & Ramey, David M. & Cooksey, Elizabeth C. & Williams, David R., 2018. "Racial disparities in health among nonpoor African Americans and Hispanics: The role of acute and chronic discrimination," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 167-180.
    7. Chen, Danhong & Yang, Tse-Chuan, 2014. "The pathways from perceived discrimination to self-rated health: An investigation of the roles of distrust, social capital, and health behaviors," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 64-73.
    8. Johnston, David W. & Lordan, Grace, 2012. "Discrimination makes me sick! An examination of the discrimination–health relationship," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 99-111.
    9. Song, Jieun & Mailick, Marsha R. & Greenberg, Jan S., 2018. "Health of parents of individuals with developmental disorders or mental health problems: Impacts of stigma," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 217(C), pages 152-158.
    10. Gaeul Kim & Jinmok Kim & Su-Kyoung Lee & Juho Sim & Yangwook Kim & Byung-Yoon Yun & Jin-Ha Yoon, 2020. "Multidimensional gender discrimination in workplace and depressive symptoms," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(7), pages 1-13, July.
    11. Marcelle M. Dougan & Marian Tzuang & Bora Nam & Oanh L. Meyer & Janice Y. Tsoh & Van M. Ta Park, 2024. "Discrimination Experiences among Asian American and Pacific Islander Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Their Association with Mental Health Outcomes: Updated Findings from the COMPASS Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(6), pages 1-16, June.
    12. Williams, David R. & Gonzalez, Hector M. & Williams, Stacey & Mohammed, Selina A. & Moomal, Hashim & Stein, Dan J., 2008. "Perceived discrimination, race and health in South Africa," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 441-452, August.
    13. Lindström, Martin, 2008. "Social capital, anticipated ethnic discrimination and self-reported psychological health: A population-based study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 1-13, January.
    14. Harnois, Catherine E. & Bastos, João L. & Campbell, Mary E. & Keith, Verna M., 2019. "Measuring perceived mistreatment across diverse social groups: An evaluation of the Everyday Discrimination Scale," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 232(C), pages 298-306.
    15. Chae, David H. & Lincoln, Karen D. & Adler, Nancy E. & Syme, S. Leonard, 2010. "Do experiences of racial discrimination predict cardiovascular disease among African American men? The moderating role of internalized negative racial group attitudes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(6), pages 1182-1188, September.
    16. Yang, Tse-Chuan & Chen, I-Chien & Choi, Seung-won & Kurtulus, Aysenur, 2019. "Linking perceived discrimination during adolescence to health during mid-adulthood: Self-esteem and risk-behavior mechanisms," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 232(C), pages 434-443.
    17. Priest, Naomi & Doery, Kate & Lim, Chiao Kee & Lawrence, Jourdyn A. & Zoumboulis, Georgia & King, Gabriella & Lamisa, Dewan & He, Fan & Wijesuriya, Rushani & Mateo, Camila M. & Chong, Shiau & Truong, , 2024. "Racism and health and wellbeing among children and youth–An updated systematic review and meta-analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 361(C).
    18. Bethany G. Everett & Jarron Saint Onge & Stefanie Mollborn, 2016. "Effects of Minority Status and Perceived Discrimination on Mental Health," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 35(4), pages 445-469, August.
    19. Schaan, Barbara, 2014. "The interaction of family background and personal education on depressive symptoms in later life," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 94-102.
    20. Bauer, Greta R., 2014. "Incorporating intersectionality theory into population health research methodology: Challenges and the potential to advance health equity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 10-17.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:9:p:1323-:d:1732910. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.