Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The influence of social support on ethnic differences in well-being and depression in adolescents: findings from the prospective Olympic Regeneration in East London (ORiEL) study

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

This study examines the extent to which in adolescent positive mental well-being and depressive symptoms vary across ethnic groups, and prospectively examines whether social support is protective against low/poor well-being and depression.

Methods

A longitudinal survey of 2426 adolescents from the Olympic Regeneration in East London study measured well-being and depressive symptoms at baseline at ages 11–12 and at follow-up two years later at ages 13–14. Social support was assessed at ages 11–12 years by the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, by the level of parental support for school, by the frequency of family activities and by friendship choices. Ethnic differences in well-being and depression in Bangladeshi (N = 337) and Black African (N = 249) adolescents compared to their White UK counterparts (N = 380) were estimated adjusted stepwise for socio-demographic factors and domains of social support.

Results

Black African and Bangladeshi adolescents scored significantly higher for well-being than their White UK counterparts. There were no significant ethnic differences in the prevalence of depressive symptoms. Lower levels of social support were prospectively associated with lower well-being and higher rates of depression in all ethnic groups. Adjustment for multiple domains of social support did not account for ethnic differences in well-being.

Conclusion

Bangladeshi and Black African adolescents in East London may have a positive mental health advantage over their White UK counterparts though social support did not fully explain this difference. Further investigation of the reasons for lower well-being in the White UK group is needed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Health Select Committee (2014) Children’s and adolescents’ mental health and CAMHS. Stationery Office, London

    Google Scholar 

  2. Green H, McGinnity A, Meltzer H, Ford T, Goodman R (2005) Mental health of children and young people in Great Britain, 2004. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke

    Google Scholar 

  3. Goodman A, Patel V, Leon DA (2008) Child mental health differences amongst ethnic groups in Britain: a systematic review. BMC Public Health 8(1):258

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Bhui KS, Lenguerrand E, Maynard MJ, Stansfeld SA, Harding S (2012) Does cultural integration explain a mental health advantage for adolescents? Int J Epidemiol 41(3):791–802. doi:10.1093/ije/dys007

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Khatib Y, Bhui K, Stansfeld SA (2013) Does social support protect against depression and psychological distress? Findings from the RELACHS study of East London adolescents. J Adolesc 36(2):393–402

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. World Health Organisation (2014) Health for the world’s adolescents—a second chance in the second decade. WHO, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  7. Kessler RC, McLeod JD (1985) Social support and mental health in community samples. Academic Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  8. Cohen S, Wills TA (1985) Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis. Psychol Bull 98(2):310

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Stansfeld SA (2006) Social support and social cohesion. In: Wilkinson R, Marmot M (eds) Social determinants of health. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 148–171

    Google Scholar 

  10. Brown GW, Harris TO (1979) Social origins of depression : a study of psychiatric disorder in women. Social science paperback. Tavistock Publications, London, p 192

    Google Scholar 

  11. Stice E, Ragan J, Randall P (2004) Prospective relations between social support and depression: differential direction of effects for parent and peer support? J Abnorm Psychol 113(1):155

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Stansfeld SA, Sproston K (2002) Social support and networks. In: Sproston K, Nazroo J (eds) Ethnic minority psychiatric illness rates in the community (EMPIRIC). TSO, London, pp 117–136

    Google Scholar 

  13. Klineberg E, Clark C, Bhui KS, Haines MM, Viner RM, Head J, Woodley-Jones D, Stansfeld SA (2006) Social support, ethnicity and mental health in adolescents. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 41(9):755–760

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Maynard M, Harding S (2010) Ethnic differences in psychological well-being in adolescence in the context of time spent in family activities. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 45(1):115–123. doi:10.1007/s00127-009-0047-z

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Ranganathan M, Bhopal R (2006) Exclusion and inclusion of nonwhite ethnic minority groups in 72 North American and European cardiovascular cohort studies. PLoS Med 3(3):e44

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Smith NR, Clark C, Fahy AE, Tharmaratnam V, Lewis DJ, Thompson C, Renton A, Moore DG, Bhui KS, Taylor SJC, Eldridge S, Petticrew M, Greenhalgh T, Stansfeld SA, Cummins S (2012) The Olympic Regeneration in East London (ORiEL) study: protocol for a prospective controlled quasi-experiment to evaluate the impact of urban regeneration on young people and their families. BMJ Open 2(4). doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2012-001840

  17. McLennan D, Barnes H, Noble M, Davies J, Garratt E, Dibben C (2011) The English indices of deprivation 2010. Department for Communities and Local Government, London

    Google Scholar 

  18. Office for National Statistics (2013) 2011 Census: QS211EW Ethnic group (detailed), local authorities in England and Wales

  19. Smith NR, Lewis DJ, Fahy A, Eldridge S, Taylor SJC, Moore DG, Clark C, Stansfeld SA, Cummins S (2015) Individual socio-demographic factors and perceptions of the environment as determinants of inequalities in adolescent physical and psychological health: the Olympic Regeneration in East London (ORiEL) study. Bmc Public Health. doi:10.1186/s12889-015-1459-1

    Google Scholar 

  20. Department for Education (2013) National Pupil Database, Key Stage 2, Tier 4, 2002–2013: secure access [computer file]. UK Data Arch. doi:10.5255/UKDA-SN-7626-1

    Google Scholar 

  21. Office for National Statistics (2011) Office for National Statistics: 2011 Census Questionnaire Content for England. http://www.onsgovuk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/the-2011-census/2011-census-questionnaire-content/2011-census-questionnaire-for-englandpdf

  22. Tennant R, Hiller L, Fishwick R, Platt S, Joseph S, Weich S, Parkinson J, Secker J, Stewart-Brown S (2007) The Warwick-Edinburgh mental well-being scale (WEMWBS): development and UK validation. Health Qual Life Outcomes 5(1):63

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Clarke A, Friede T, Putz R, Ashdown J, Martin S, Blake A, Adi Y, Parkinson J, Flynn P, Platt S (2011) Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS): validated for teenage school students in England and Scotland. A mixed methods assessment. BMC Public Health 11:487

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Stewart-Brown SL, Platt S, Tennant A, Maheswaran H, Parkinson J, Weich S, Tennant R, Taggart F, Clarke A (2011) The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS): a valid and reliable tool for measuring mental well-being in diverse populations and projects. J Epidemiol Community Health 65(Suppl 2):A38–A39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. NatCen Social Research, University College London (1991–2012) Health Survey for England, 1991–2012. ESDS Government, University of Manchester

  26. Angold A, Costello EJ, Messer SC, Pickles A, Winder F, Silver D (1995) Development of a short questionnaire for use in epidemiological studies of depression in children and adolescents. Int J Methods Psychiatr Res 5(4):237–249

    Google Scholar 

  27. Rothon C, Stansfeld SA, Mathews C, Kleinhans A, Clark C, Lund C, Flisher AJ (2011) Reliability of self report questionnaires for epidemiological investigations of adolescent mental health in Cape Town, South Africa. J Child Adolesc Mental Health 23(2):119–128

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Banh M, Crane P, Rhew I, Gudmundsen G, Stoep A, Lyon A, McCauley E (2012) Measurement equivalence across racial/ethnic groups of the mood and feelings questionnaire for childhood depression. J Abnorm Child Psychol 40(3):353–367. doi:10.1007/s10802-011-9569-4

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Zimet GD, Powell SS, Farley GK, Werkman S, Berkoff KA (1990) Psychometric characteristics of the multidimensional scale of perceived social support. J Pers Assess 55(3–4):610–617

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Canty-Mitchell J, Zimet G (2000) Psychometric properties of the multidimensional scale of perceived social support in urban adolescents. Am J Community Psychol 28(3):391–400. doi:10.1023/A:1005109522457

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Bhui K, Lawrence A, Klineberg E, Woodley-Jones D, Taylor S, Stansfeld S, Viner R, Booy R (2005) Acculturation and health status among African–Caribbean, Bangladeshi and White British adolescents–validation and findings from the RELACHS study. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 40(4):259–266

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Berry JW (2005) Acculturation: living successfully in two cultures. Int J Intercult Relat 29(6):697–712

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Boyce W, Torsheim T, Currie C, Zambon A (2006) The family affluence scale as a measure of national wealth: validation of an adolescent self-report measure. Soc Indic Res 78(3):473–487

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Currie C, Molcho M, Boyce W, Holstein B, Torsheim T, Richter M (2008) Researching health inequalities in adolescents: the development of the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) Family Affluence Scale. Soc Sci Med 66(6):1429–1436

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Little RJ, Rubin DB (2014) Statistical analysis with missing data. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  36. Carpenter JR, Kenward MG, White IR (2007) Sensitivity analysis after multiple imputation under missing at random: a weighting approach. Stat Methods Med Res 16(3):259–275. doi:10.1177/0962280206075303

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Viner RM, Ross D, Hardy R, Kuh D, Power C, Johnson A, Wellings K, McCambridge J, Cole TJ, Kelly Y, Batty GD (2015) Life course epidemiology: recognising the importance of adolescence. J Epidemiol Community Health. doi:10.1136/jech-2014-205300

    PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  38. Goodman A, Patel V, Leon DA (2010) Why do British Indian children have an apparent mental health advantage? J Child Psychol Psychiatry 51(10):1171–1183. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2010.02260.x

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Burgess S (2014) Understanding the success of London’s schools. University of Bristol, Bristol. http://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/cmpo/migrated/documents/wp333.pdf. Accessed 03/03/2015

  40. Corrigall R, Bhugra D (2013) The role of ethnicity and diagnosis in rates of adolescent psychiatric admission and compulsory detention: a longitudinal case-note study. J R Soc Med 106(5):190–195. doi:10.1177/0141076813480995

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Messent P, Murrell M (2003) Research leading to action: a study of accessibility of a CAMH service to ethnic minority families. Child Adolesc Mental Health 8(3):118–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Bhui K, Stansfeld S, Hull S, Priebe S, Mole F, Feder G (2003) Ethnic variations in pathways to and use of specialist mental health services in the UK systematic review. Br J Psychiatry 182(2):105–116

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

NS designed and conducted the analysis and drafted the manuscript. MS conducted the data imputation. CC, SC and SS contributed to critical revisions of the manuscript. The ORiEL study (http://www.orielproject.co.uk) is funded by the NIHR Public Health Research Programme (Grant number: 09/3005/09). SC is supported by a United Kingdom National Institute of Health Research Senior Fellowship. The authors had ultimate authority over study design; collection, management, analysis and interpretation of data; writing of the report; and the decision to submit the report for publication. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the funder (National Institute for Health Research).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Psychiatry, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, Old Anatomy Building, Charterhouse Square, London, EC1M 6BQ, UK

    Neil R. Smith, Charlotte Clark, Melanie Smuk & Stephen A. Stansfeld

  2. Department of Social and Environmental Health Research, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 15-17 Tavistock Place, London, WC1H 9SH, UK

    Steven Cummins

Authors
  1. Neil R. Smith
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Charlotte Clark
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Melanie Smuk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Steven Cummins
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Stephen A. Stansfeld
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Neil R. Smith.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

None.

Ethical standards

The study has approval from Queen Mary University of London Ethics Committee (QMREC2011/40), the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (RGE110927) and the London Boroughs Research Governance Framework (CERGF113). Parent/carer consent for their child’s participation was obtained passively 1 week prior to the survey visit. Adolescents provided their written assent immediately before completing their questionnaire and were presented with the opportunity to opt out at any time.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Smith, N.R., Clark, C., Smuk, M. et al. The influence of social support on ethnic differences in well-being and depression in adolescents: findings from the prospective Olympic Regeneration in East London (ORiEL) study. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 50, 1701–1711 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-015-1098-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-015-1098-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation