Research That Matters (January 17 - 20, 2008)

Purpose: Depression and hostility are two comorbid symptoms at elevated risk of prevalence during adolescence (Felston, 1996). They are demonstrated to be psychosocial precursors of various negative affects and health risk behaviors such as smoking and substance use (Weiss et al., 2005). However, there is lack of knowledge on the social determinants of depression and hostility among Asian and Hispanic adolescents. Applying social capital theoretical framework, this study aims to investigate: 1) how social capital (i.e., resources inherent in social relationships that facilitate a social outcome) (Coleman, 1990) embedded in the family, school, and community influence the depression and hostility of Asian and Hispanic adolescents; and 2) whether the level of acculturation moderate the effects of social capital on adolescents' depression and hostility. Method: Data for the study comes from a NCI funded longitudinal school-based smoking prevention trial in Southern California (Johnson et al., 2005). The study sample includes 1156 Asian and Hispanic adolescents who were 6th graders at baseline and followed up for two years. Depression was measured by CES-D (Radloff, 1977). Hostility was measured by Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory (Buss & Durkee, 1957). Acculturation was measured by AHIMSA Acculturation Scale (Unger, 2002) and was median-split to represent high or low acculturation level. Family social capital was assessed by parent-child interaction and parental monitoring; community social capital was assessed by neighborhood quality and neighborhood support; school social capital was assessed by school quality and teacher-student relationship. Employing structural equation modeling (via MPlus 4.0) and using the multiple-group approach, a prospective analysis was conducted to examine the multiplicative effects of social capital on the adolescents' depression/hostility, as well as the moderating effect of acculturation on these social capital functions. Results: The hypothesized model provided a good fit to the data (Chi Square=182.367, df=120, p<.001, CFI=.972, RMSEA=.023). The multiple group analysis identified a significant moderating effect of acculturation on the associations between social capital and adolescents' depression/hostility. In the low acculturation group, family social capital showed significant effects on both depression (Beta= -.204, p<.001) and hostility (Beta= -.182, p<.01) of adolescents; family social capital also functioned as a mediator between community social capital (Beta=.265, p<.001) and depression/hostility. In the high acculturation group, however, the effect of family social capital did not appear, but community social capital showed significant direct effect on depression (Beta= -.169, p<.001), which was not observed in the low acculturation group. School social capital did not show significant effects in both groups. Implications: Theoretically, this study advances social capital theory by incorporating various dimensions of social capital into one framework and unraveling the mechanism by which family, school, and community social capital influence the adjustment of Asian and Hispanic adolescents. Practically, given the differential effects of social capital between adolescents at differential acculturation levels, this study suggests developing population-specific intervention and prevention programs, which focus on strengthening particular domains of social contexts for particular groups of adolescents. It implies the potential of translating social capital in the family and community into healthy adjustment of Asian and Hispanic adolescents.