Double jeopardy effect of perceived discrimination and lack of parental support on depression among adolescents of immigrant parents

ABSTRACT

This study examined the double jeopardy effect of perceived discrimination and lack of parental support on depression among adolescents of immigrant parents in the United States. Two complementary hypotheses were tested. The first hypothesis postulates the independent effects of perceived discrimination and lack of parental support, and the second hypothesis postulates that perceived discrimination and lack of parental support jointly affect perceived depression in such a way that children of immigrants who felt discriminated and did not have parental support experienced a significantly higher level of perceived depression than those who felt discriminated but had parental support. The data of this study came from the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (CIL), 1991–2005. The study’s sample consisted of 4110 adolescents who completed the interviews in 1992 and 1995. Ordinary least square regression was used to test the hypotheses. The results supported the study’s hypotheses, suggesting that adolescents of immigrant parents who experienced discrimination and lacked parental support suffered from a significantly higher level of perceived depression. Implications for formal and informal social services are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Perceived discrimination
• parental supports
• children of immigrants
• double jeopardy effect

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Thanh V. Tran, PhD, MSSW is a professor of Social Work at Boston College. His research and teaching focuses on cross-cultural measurement and cross-cultural analysis related to health and mental health behaviors and outcomes.