Does Parenting Prevent Hopelessness in

Low-Income Youth?Christy Thai, Meredith Henry, Sylvie Mrug

Introduction

Sample

Measures

Analysis

Results

Conclusions

References

• Previous research has shown high percentages of adolescents from impoverished neighborhoods reporting

feelings of hopelessness (Bolland, 2003; DuRant et al., 1995).• Positive parenting has been found to be associated with

lower levels of depression in adolescents (Liem et al., 2010; Piko & Balazs, 2012).• This study investigates whether positive parenting reduces the negative effect of low family income on youth hopelessness.

• 480 adolescents that took part in waves 2 and 3 of the Birmingham Youth Violence Study (BYVS)• 78% African American, 21% Caucasian, and 1% Other• 52% female• Mean age at wave 2 = 13.2• Mean age at wave 3 = 18.0• Family income per year before taxes (Min = $5,000 or less; Max = $90,001 or more; Mean = $25,001-30,000; )

• Wave 2- Adolescents reported on

Depression The scale included 20 items and responses ranged from “1, Rarely (less than 1 day a week) “ to “4, Most of the time (5-7 days a week).”

Inconsistent discipline4 items on parental inconsistent discipline. Responses ranged from “1, Never” to “5, Always.”

Nurturance5 items on parental nurturance. Responses ranged from “1, Almost always” to “3, Almost never.”

- Parents reported on Family income

1 item on family income before taxes. Responses ranged from “1, $5000 or less” to “13, >$90,001”

• Wave 3- Adolescents reported on

DepressionThe Center for Epidemiologic Studies –Depression scale (CES-D) included 20 items. Responses ranged from “1, Rarely (less than 1 day a week) “ to “4, Most of the time (5-7 days a week).”

Hopelessness8 items assessing life chances. Responses ranged

from “1, Very high” to “5, Very low” and were reverse coded.

• Correlations between depression, hopelessness, adolescent-rated parental harsh discipline, adolescent-rated parental inconsistent discipline, adolescent-rated parental nurturance, parent-rated harsh discipline, parent-rated inconsistent discipline, parent-rated nurturance, and family income.

• Multiple linear regressions were used to assess the role of family income and parenting at age 13 in predicting hopelessness and depression at age 18.

•A possible explanation of the high correlation between inconsistent discipline with nurturance is that because parents are inconsistent in disciplining adolescents, they are inconsistently nurturing as well.

• A possible explanation of the high correlations between nurturance with parental income, hopelessness, and

depression is that parents try to be more nurturing to their children in order to alleviate the negative effects of

poverty. Unfortunately, poverty was still highly correlated with depression which was in turn, highly correlated with hopelessness.

• There was a main effect of both inconsistent discipline and income in predicting depression. However, there was no interaction between the two in predicting depression.

• There were no interactions between nurturance and income in predicting hopelessness.

• Our study was limited by an uneven distribution among races.

• The role of other measures of economic hardship on these factors is currently being explored.

Predicting Wave 3 Depression Predicting HopelessnessPredictors β S. E. β S. E.Gender .072 .047 - .041 .059Ethnicity - .045 .065 .333*** .083Wave 2 Depression .045** .014 - .057** .017Parental income - .015* .006 .017* .008Inconsistent discipline .018* .008 - -Inconsistent discipline x Income - .002 .002 - -Nurturance - - - .295*** .076Nurturance x Income - - - .022 .019

*p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001

*p < .05, **p < .01

Table 1. Correlations between wave 2 parenting and income with wave 3 adolescent hopelessness and depression

Table 2. Multiple linear regressions of parenting and income in predicting depression and hopelessness

Inconsistent Discipline Nurturance Parental Income Hopelessness

Inconsistent DisciplineNurturance .237**Parental Income - .091 - .157**Hopelessness .117* .192** - .094Wave 3 Depression - .174** .136** .157** - .293**

• Pearson’s correlation analyses indicated significant relationships between - Inconsistent discipline with nurturance (r = .237, p < .01), hopelessness (r = .117, p < .05), and wave 3 depression(r = - .174, p < .01) - Nurturance with parental income (r = - .157, p < .01), hopelessness (r = .192, p < .01), and depression (r = .136, p < .01)- Parental income with depression (r = .157, p < .01)- Hopelessness with depression (r = - .293, p < .01)

• Gender, ethnicity, and wave 2 depression were controlled in the multiple linear regression analyses.

• Multiple linear regression analyses indicated - Wave 3 depression was significantly predicted by wave 2 depression (β = .045, p < .01), parental income (β = - .015, p

< .05), and inconsistent discipline (β = .018, p < .05). The interaction effect of inconsistent discipline and income on predicting depression was explored but the result was insignificant.

- Hopelessness was significantly predicted by ethnicity (β = .333, p < .001), wave 2 depression (β = -.057, p < .01), parental income (β = .017, p < .05), and nurturance (β = - .295, p < .001). The interaction effect of nurturance and income on predicting hopelessness was explored but the result was insignificant.

Bolland, J. M. (2003). Hopelessness and risk behaviour among adolescents living in high-poverty inner-city neighbourhoods. Journal of Adolescence , 26(2), 145-158. DuRant, R. H., Getts, A., Cadenhead, C., Emans, S. J., & Woods, E. R. (1995). Exposure to violence and victimization and depression, hopelessness, and purpose in life among adolescents living in and around public housing. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 16(4), 233-237. Liem, J. H., Cavell, E. C., & Lustig, K. (2010). The influence of authoritative parenting during adolescence on depressive symptoms in young adulthood: Examining the mediating roles of self-development and peer support. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 171(1), 73-92. Piko, B. F., & Balazs, M. A. (2012). Control or involvement? relationship between authoritative parenting style and adolescent depressive symptomatology. European Child Adolescent Psychiatry, 21, 149-155.