Psychosocial Stress and Social Support as Mediators of Relationships between Income, Length of Residence and Depressive Symptoms among African American Womeno n Detroit's Eastside

Patterns of mental health are clearly associated with life circumstances, including educational & economic opportunities, access to safe & supportive neighborhoods, socially structured exposures to stressors & to supportive relationships. In this article, we examine the social & economic correlates of depressive symptoms among African American women residing within a predominantly African American urban neighborhood in Detroit, USA, with relatively few economic resources. We identify distinct stressors associated with financial strain, neighborhood social disorder (concern about police responsiveness, safety stress), & experiences of discrimination. We test the extent to which each of these stressors mediates relationships between household income, length of residence in the neighborhood, social support & depressive symptoms. Our results suggest that for women in this racially segregated area with a high concentration of poverty, relationships between household income & symptoms of depression are partially mediated by financial stress & social support, but that stressors associated with neighborhood disorder & discrimination influence depressive symptoms independent of household income. Furthermore, we find that length of residence in the neighborhood is negatively associated with financial stress & positively associated with police stress & social support, with no significant net effect on symptoms of depression. We conclude that higher household income may help reduce symptoms of depression by reducing financial stress & strengthening social support even within neighborhoods with high concentrations of poverty. However, increased household income does not protect African American women residing in a high poverty community from distress associated with neighborhood disorder or experiences of discrimination. 4 Tables, 2 Figures, 73 References. [Copyright 2005 Elsevier Ltd.]