Black/White Disparity in Self-feelings: Life Course Look at Racial Disparity in Depression, Anxiety, and Self-derogation

Heili Pals , Texas A&M University
Warren Waren, University of Central Florida
Ashley Marcoe, Texas A&M University
Christine Nguyen, Texas A&M University
Cassidy Seale, Texas A&M University
Sith Senesoury, Texas A&M University
Johnatan Alvarez, Texas A&M University

This paper focuses on the difference in self-feelings for whites and blacks. We take a life-course look at these differences, exploring the black white gap from adolescence to adulthood for two generations. In addition, we investigate locus of control as a potential mechanism to explain this gap. We anticipate that the black-white disparity in self-feelings is not the same across all developmental stages. We expect to see the disparity change once a person enters the adulthood. We use a unique, multi-generational longitudinal KLAMS data that allows us to measure depression, anxiety, and self-derogation from adolescence to adulthood in 6 data waves for parental generation and for 3 data waves for children’s generation. Preliminary analysis shows that blacks in both generations tend to have higher depression and anxiety than whites in adolescence, but this relationship reverses in adulthood. However, blacks exhibit lower levels of self-derogation at all stages of life course.

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 Presented in Session 133. Race, Ethnicity, and the Demography of Mental Health