Prior research documents higher levels of depressive symptoms among Black Americans relative to Whites. Yet, we know less about the role of other dimensions of stratification (e.g., skin tone) in shaping mental health inequality between Black and White adults, and whether mental health trajectories by race and skin tone among Black adults are contingent upon social contexts in childhood and adolescence. To address these gaps, this study asks: 1) to what extent do self-identified race and interviewer-rated skin tone among Black respondents shape inequalities in depressive symptoms between Black and White Americans across ages 12-42? 2) Are trajectories of depressive symptoms by race and skin tone among Black respondents contingent on school racial contexts (e.g., school racial composition)? Using five waves of data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health and growth curve models, results suggest trajectories of depressive symptoms across ages 12-42 vary by race, school racial context, and skin tone among Black respondents. Specifically, Black students rated as having very dark, dark, and medium brown skin who attended high proportion Black schools in adolescence experienced lower levels of depressive symptoms than their White and light-skinned Black counterparts, particularly across the teen years and early 20s. Conversely, attending higher proportion White schools led to increases in depressive symptoms across earlier ages for Black students, particularly those who fell within the middle of the skin color continuum. Findings highlight competing advantages and disadvantages of navigating racialized spaces in childhood/adolescence for Black Americans of different skin tones.

中文翻译：

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整个生命早期过程中种族、肤色和学校种族背景的心理健康。


先前的研究表明，美国黑人的抑郁症状水平高于白人。然而，我们对分层的其他维度（例如肤色）在塑造黑人和白人成年人之间的心理健康不平等方面的作用知之甚少，以及黑人成年人中种族和肤色的心理健康轨迹是否取决于童年的社会背景和青春期。为了解决这些差距，本研究提出以下问题：1）黑人受访者的自我认同种族和采访者评价的肤色在多大程度上影响了 12-42 岁美国黑人和白人之间抑郁症状的不平等？ 2）黑人受访者中按种族和肤色划分的抑郁症状轨迹是否取决于学校种族背景（例如学校种族构成）？使用国家青少年至成人健康纵向研究的五波数据和生长曲线模型，结果表明，12-42 岁之间的抑郁症状轨迹因种族、学校种族背景和黑人受访者肤色而异。具体来说，在青春期就读比例较高的黑人学校的黑人学生的抑郁症状水平低于白人和浅肤色黑人学生，特别是在青少年时期和二十岁出头。相反，就读较高比例的白人学校会导致黑人学生在早期阶段抑郁症状的增加，特别是那些处于肤色连续体中间的学生。研究结果强调了不同肤色的美国黑人在童年/青少年时期在种族化空间中的竞争优势和劣势。