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The Influence of General Discrimination and Social Context on Young Urban Expecting Couples’ Mental Health

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Abstract

Young expecting parents face a great deal of challenges as they transition into parenthood. This paper sought to identify racial and gender differences in the relationship between general discrimination, neighborhood problems, neighborhood cohesion, and social support on the depressive and stress symptoms among young expecting couples. Results indicated perceived general discrimination and less social support was associated with increased stress and depression. More neighborhood problems were related to increased depression and more neighborhood cohesion was related to less stress. Moderator analyses showed that the influence of general discrimination and stress was stronger for women than men. In addition, neighborhood cohesion was protective on stress for Blacks and Whites but not for Hispanics. These results indicate the need to address the broader social context for young expectant couples.

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Acknowledgments

Supported by a Grant from the National Institutes of Mental Health (1R01MH75685).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

    Derrick M. Gordon, Christina Campbell, Keahnan Washington, Tashuna Albritton, Urania Magriples & Trace Kershaw

  2. City University of New York, New York, NY, USA

    Anna Divney

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  1. Derrick M. Gordon
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  2. Christina Campbell
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  3. Keahnan Washington
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  4. Tashuna Albritton
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Correspondence to Derrick M. Gordon.

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Gordon, D.M., Campbell, C., Washington, K. et al. The Influence of General Discrimination and Social Context on Young Urban Expecting Couples’ Mental Health. J Child Fam Stud 25, 1284–1294 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-015-0313-5

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