Variation in the Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms: Results from the Americans' Changing Lives Study

Abstract

This study examines the association between race and depressive symptoms over a 16‐year study period. The analysis is based on the responses of 3,485 African-American and White respondents from four waves of the Americans' Changing Lives Panel Study. Growth mixture modeling was used to identify latent trajectory classes based on the reported levels of depressive symptoms over 16 years. Four latent trajectory classes were identified: two “high-risk” groups and two “low-risk” groups. Findings show the heterogeneity among and within racial groups in their trajectories of depressive symptoms and the distinct demographic and social relationship predictors for symptom trajectories.

The preparation of this manuscript was supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (K01-MH69923) to Dr. Lincoln and (P50MH073511) to Dr. Takeuchi. The author thanks Dr. James S. House and Dr. Robert Joseph Taylor for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article.