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Socioeconomic Context, Social Support, and Adolescent Mental Health: A Multilevel Investigation

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This study examined whether the impact of contextual-level socioeconomic disadvantage on adolescent mental health is contingent upon individual-level perceptions of social support. Data are from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), a panel survey of a nationally representative United States sample (analytic N=18,417) of students in 7th through 12th grade. Effects of social support and social context on both internalizing problems (depressive symptoms) and externalizing problems (minor delinquency and violent behavior) are analyzed. Contextual-level socioeconomic disadvantage is positively associated with depressive symptoms, negatively associated with minor delinquency, and not directly associated with violent behavior. High perceived support from family, friends, and other adults offsets poor mental health, but is most protective in areas of low socioeconomic disadvantage. The mental health benefits of perceived social support are dampened in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, compared to advantaged areas. Results suggest that interventions targeting only individual- or family-level processes within disadvantaged contexts may be inadequate at stemming psychological distress among adolescents.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (R01 MH 60923, Carol S. Aneshensel, PhD, Principal Investigator). This research uses data from the Add Health project, a program project designed by J. Richard Udry (PI) and Peter Bearman, and funded by grant P01-HD31921 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to the Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with cooperative funding from 17 other agencies. Persons interested in obtaining data files from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health should contact Add Health, Carolina Population Center, 123 West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516-2524 (http://www.cpc.unc.edu/addhalth).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Community Health Sciences, UCLA School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1772, USA

    Richard G. Wight

  2. UCLA Department of Community Health Sciences, 951772, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1772, USA

    Amanda L. Botticello

  3. UCLA, 951772, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1772, USA

    Carol S. Aneshensel

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  1. Richard G. Wight
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  2. Amanda L. Botticello
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Correspondence to Richard G. Wight.

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Richard G. Wight, Assistant Research Sociologist, conducts life course mental health research in the UCLA Department of Community Health Sciences. His work emphasizes the intersection of individual- and contextual-level factors that impact health within dyads, families, and neighborhoods.

Amanda L. Botticello is a doctoral student in the UCLA Department of Community Health Sciences, where her work addresses the reciprocal relationships between depressive symptoms and problem drinking among adolescents.

Carol S. Aneshensel is a Professor of Community Health Sciences at UCLA, where she applies principals of social stratification and life course theory to the analysis of quantitative data to better understand disparities in mental health risks.

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Wight, R.G., Botticello, A.L. & Aneshensel, C.S. Socioeconomic Context, Social Support, and Adolescent Mental Health: A Multilevel Investigation. J Youth Adolescence 35, 109–120 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-005-9009-2

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