The Role of School Connectedness and Parenting in Depression Among Black and White Adolescents

Background and Purpose

Over the past decades, adolescent depression has been prevalent and has shown an increasing trend. Several studies have documented that school connectedness, which refers to individuals’ subjective feelings of connection to their schools, and quality of caregiver-adolescent relationships impact adolescents’ depressive symptoms. Furthermore, race/ethnicity has been identified as a factor associated with feelings of school connectedness, parenting behaviors, and adolescent depression. However, there is a lack of research identifying the intertwined relationships between school connectedness and quality parenting practices impacting adolescent depression among diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds.

Drawing on ecological systems theory, this study aims to examine whether the intertwined roles of school connectedness and parenting behaviors impacting adolescent depression differ between White and Black adolescents.

Methods

This study analyzed data from Wave6 of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (ages = 15-18). White and Black adolescents who completed the child interview, and primary caregiver and in-home surveys, were included (n = 654).

Depression was measured using CBCL subscales. School connectedness was measured by four questions assessing feelings of closeness to people, inclusiveness, happiness, and safety in the school. The quality of parenting practices was assessed by measuring the use of aggressive parenting tactics drawn from the Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Scale.

Personal characteristics (age, sex), other school-related factors (school climate, relationships with peers and teachers), additional family factors (physical home environment, poverty), and a neighborhood factor (collective efficacy) were included. Moderation analysis was conducted using SPSS 27.

Results

A higher level of school connectedness is significantly related to lower depression levels for both White (b = -2.48, p < .001) and Black (b = -1.18, p < .001) adolescents. When the interaction term was added to the model, school connectedness significantly interacted with aggressive parenting in impacting depression levels among White (conditional effect = -1.30, p = 0.004).

Specifically, with more aggressive parenting, the effects of school connectedness in reducing depression were more pronounced. With low aggressive parenting (-1SD), the effect of school connectedness was -1.23 (p = 0.025), whereas with higher aggressive parenting (+1SD), the school effect was -3.46 (p < 0.001). However, no significant interaction effects were observed among Black adolescents (p = 0.791).

Conclusions and Implications

The findings reveal distinct differences in interaction effects of school connectedness and aggressive parenting on depression among Black and White adolescents. Specifically, for White adolescents experiencing higher levels of aggressive parenting, school connectedness plays a more critical protective role in reducing depression levels. This implies that schools act as a buffer that complements risk factors at home. These results underscore positive impacts of utilizing resources from schools on students' psychological well-being, especially for children at risk within their families.

However, the magnitude of the school effect did not differ based on aggressive parenting for Black adolescents. This emphasizes that the positive role of the school system may be insufficient for Black adolescents, warranting the need to identify factors that hinder the role of schools in reducing depression among Black adolescents, particularly through a lens that promotes racial equity.