Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms During Adolescence: The Protective Roles of Adolescent and Family Assets Within ECHO's Diverse National Population

Abstract

To understand the factors that preserve mental health amongst a diverse population of adolescents, we examined links between neighborhood-level resources, adolescents' self-reported personal assets (low perceived stress, meaning and purpose, life satisfaction), parent-reported family assets (household income, maternal mental health) and adolescents' self-reported depressive and anxiety symptoms. Participants included a racially and ethnically diverse national sample of 4325 adolescents (10–21 years) from the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program. Neighborhood-level resources were not directly associated with depressive or anxiety symptoms. However, higher levels of personal and family assets were related to lower levels of symptoms, regardless of neighborhood resources (ß's: −0.09 to 0.55). Last, high neighborhood resources compensated for the absence of one asset—low perceived stress. For adolescents with levels of perceived stress that were just 0.17 SD above the sample mean, neighborhood resources were negatively associated with depressive symptoms. Findings did not vary across racial and ethnic groups. Results support the development of asset building endeavors that bolster positive child assets in adolescents and families to reduce mental health disparities. Implications for programs that seek to promote mental health amongst minoritized youth are discussed.