Racial Differences in Parenting Factors and Their Effects on Youth Anxiety and Depression

Author

Paige Fadeke Adenuga, Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical CollegeFollow

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Document Type

Dissertation

Abstract

A variety of factors have been identified that influence the psychological development in youth. Researchers have focused their attention on parenting factors, proposing that parenting theories and styles offer insight into the parent-child relationship and can predict youth’s symptoms. However, less attention has been given to racial differences in these parenting factors and their resulting effects on youth’s symptoms. The current study investigated the racial differences in parenting factors (i.e., parent stress and parent psychological symptoms), as measured by the Parent Stress Index—4^th Edition, Short Form and Symptom Checklist-90-Revised, and their resulting effects on youth anxiety and depression, as measured by the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children and Children’s Depression Inventory. 118 female caregiver-youth dyads were taken from an existing database at Louisiana State University. It was hypothesized that female caregiver total parent psychological symptoms and total parent stress would be correlated, and youth total anxiety and total depression would be correlated. It was also hypothesized that African American female caregivers and their youth would report a higher multivariate combination of negative symptoms compared to Caucasian female caregivers and their youth. Additionally, it was hypothesized that African American female caregivers would report higher parent psychological symptoms and parent stress than Caucasian female caregivers, and African American youth would report higher anxiety and depression symptoms than Caucasian youth. In all, results indicated significant positive correlations between parent stress and parent psychological symptoms and youth anxiety and depression. Further, significant group differences were found where African American female caregivers and their youth reported higher parent stress and youth anxiety, and Caucasian female caregivers reported higher parent psychological symptoms.

Date

5-23-2023

Recommended Citation

Adenuga, Paige Fadeke, "Racial Differences in Parenting Factors and Their Effects on Youth Anxiety and Depression" (2023). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 6169.
https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/6169

Committee Chair

Kelley, Mary Lou

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_dissertations.6169