Abstract
There are many risk factors associated with the development of internalizing symptoms in low-income urban youth, and youth with asthma appear to be at greater risk for experiencing stressors in multiple domains. The purpose of the current study was to examine stressors, hopelessness, and the interaction between them, as predictors of trajectories of anxious/depressed and withdrawn symptoms over a 4-year period of adolescence. Participating in the study were 53 youth from Chicago public schools, the majority of whom identified themselves as African American or Latino. Multi-level modeling was used to examine major life events, daily hassles, exposure to violence, poverty, and hopelessness as predictors of both types of symptoms. Major life events and exposure to violence predicted anxious/depressed symptoms but not withdrawn symptoms. Hopelessness predicted both types of symptoms and further interacted with major life events to predict both anxious/depressed and withdrawn symptoms. Hopelessness also moderated the effects of daily hassles on anxious/depressed symptoms and poverty on withdrawn symptoms. Results of this study provide insight into the psychosocial risk factors associated with the experience of asthma in urban adolescents.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Prevention CfDCa. Health Data for All Ages. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/health_data_for_all_ages.htm. Accessed on: 10 July 2008.
Health NIo. Expert panel report 3: guidelines for the diagnosis and management of asthma—full report 2007. Bethesda, MD: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; 2007.
Stingone JA, Claudio L. Disparities in allergy testing and health outcomes among urban children with asthma. J Allergy Clinical Immunol. 2008; 122(4): 748–753.
McQuaid EL, Abramson NW. Pediatric asthma. In: Roberts MC, Steele RG, eds. Handbook of pediatric psychology. Fourthth ed. New York: Guilford Press; 2009: 254–270.
Kwong NM, Das C, Proctor AR, Whyte MK, Primhak RA. Diagnostic and treatment behavior in children with chronic respiratory symptoms: relationship with socioeconomic factors. Thorax. 2002; 57: 701–704.
Mitchell DK, McQuaid EL, Seiffer R, et al. Multiple urban and asthma-related risks and their association with asthma morbidity in children. J Pediatr Psychol. 2007; 32: 582–595.
Hamlett KW, Pellegrini DS, Katz KS. Childhood chronic illness as a family stressor. J Pediatr Psychol. 1992; 17(1): 33–47.
Bennett DS. Depression among children with chronic medical problems: a meta-analysis. J Pediatr Psychol. 1994; 19: 149–169.
McQuaid EL, Kopel SJ, Nassau JH. Behavioral adjustment in children with asthma: a meta-analysis. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2001; 22: 430–439.
Mitchell DK, Murdock KK, Berz JB. Developmental, gender, and health-related variations in self-competence and depressed mood among school-aged urban children with asthma: a pilot study. J Clinical Psychol Med Settings. 2004; 11: 343–355.
Alati R, O’Callaghan M, Najman JM, Williams GM, Bor W, Lawlor DA. Asthma and internalizing behavior problems in adolescence: a longitudinal study. Psychosom Med. 2005; 67: 462–470.
Goodwin RD, Lewinsohn PM, Seeley JR. Respiratory symptoms and mental disorders among youth: results from a prospective, longitudinal study. Psychosom Med. 2004; 66(6): 943–949.
Feldman JM, Ortega AN, McQuaid EL, Canino G. Comorbidity between asthma attacks and internalizing disorders among Puerto Rican children at one-year follow-up. Psychosomatics. 2006; 47: 333–339.
Halterman JS, Conn KM, Forbes-Jones E, Fagnano M, Hightower AD, Szilagyi PG. Behavior problems among inner-city children with asthma: findings from a community-based sample. Pediatrics. 2006; 117(2): E192–E199.
Gillapsy SR, Hoff AL, Mullins LL, Van Pelt JC, Chaney JM. Psychological distress in high-risk youth with asthma. J Pediatr Psychol. 2002; 27: 363–371.
Hankin BL, Abramson LY, Moffitt TE, Silva PA, McGee R. Development of depression from preadolescence to young adulthood: emerging gender differences in a 10-year longitudinal study. J Abnorm Psychol. 1998; 107(1): 128–140.
Beck AT. Depression: clinical, experiential, and theoretical aspects. New York: Harper & Row; 1967.
Abramson LY, Metalsky GI, Alloy LB. Hopelessness depression: a theory-based subtype of depression. Psychol Rev. 1989; 96: 358–372.
Abramson LY, Seligman MEP, Teasdale JD. Learned helplessness in humans: critique and reformulation. J Abnorm Psychol. 1978; 87(1): 49–74.
Burke P, Elliott M. Depression in pediatric chronic illness: a diathesis–stress model. Psychosomatics. 1999; 40(1): 5–17.
Allison KW, Burton L, Marshall S, et al. Life experiences among urban adolescents: examining the role of context. Child Dev. 1999; 70: 1017–1029.
Wright RJ, Mitchell H, Visness CM, et al. Community violence and asthma morbidity: the inner-city asthma study. Am J Public Health. 2004; 94(4): 625–632.
Grant KE, Compas BE, Thurm AE, McMahon SD, Gipson PY. Stressors and child and adolescent psychopathology: measurement issues and prospective effects. J Clinical Child Adolesc Psychol. 2004; 33: 412–425.
Li ST, Nussbaum KM, Richards MH. Risk and protective factors for urban African-American youth. Am J Commun Psychol. 2007; 39(1): 21–35.
Grant KE, McCormick A, Poindexter L, et al. Exposure to violence and parenting as mediators between poverty and psychological symptoms in urban African American adolescents. J Adolesc. 2005; 28: 507–521.
Weil CM, Wade SL, Bauman LJ, Lynn H, Mitchell H, Lavigne J. The relationship between psychosocial factors and asthma morbidity in inner-city children with asthma. Pediatrics. 1999; 104: 1274–1280.
Greene C, Murdock KK, Mitchell DK. Coping with illness-related stress among urban children with asthma. Children’s Health Care. 2006; 35: 297–320.
Sales J, Fivush R, Teague GW. The role of parental coping in children with asthma’s psychological well-being and asthma-related quality of life. J Pediatr Psychol. 2008; 33: 208–219.
De Los Reyes A, Kazdin AE. Informant discrepancies in the assessment of childhood psychopathology: a critical review, theoretical framework, and recommendations for further study. Psychol Bull. 2005; 131: 483–509.
Padur JS, Rapoff MA, Houston BK, et al. Psychosocial adjustment and the role of functional status for children with asthma. J Asthma. 1995; 32(5): 345–353.
Wade S, Weil C, Holden G, et al. Psychosocial characteristics of inner-city children with asthma: a description of the NCICAS psychosocial protocol. Pediatr Pulmonol. 1997; 24(4): 263–276.
Kashani JH, Konig P, Shepperd JA, Wilfley D, Morris DA. Psychopathology and self-concept in asthmatic children. J Pediatr Psychol. 1988; 13(4): 509–520.
Hommel KA, Chaney JM, Wagner JL, White MM, Hoff AL, Mullins LL. Anxiety and depression in older adolescents with long-standing asthma: the role of illness uncertainty. Children’s Health Care. 2003; 32(1): 51–63.
Achenbach TM. Integrative guide for the 1991 CBCL/4-18, YSR, and TRF profiles. Burlington: Department of Psychiatry, University of VT; 1991.
Davis A, Savage Brown A, Edelstein J, Tager IB. Identification and education of adolescents with asthma in an urban school district: results from a large-scale asthma intervention. J Urban Health. 2008; 85(3): 361–374.
Kazdin AE, Rodgers A, Colbus D. The hopelessness scale for children: psychometric characteristics and concurrent validity. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1986; 54: 241–245.
Beck AT, Steer RA. Manual for the Beck Hopelessness Scale. San Antonio: Psychological Corporation; 1988.
Conger RD, Wallace LE, Sun Y, Simons RL, Lorenz FO, Wu C-I, Conger RD, McLoyd VC, Brody GH. Economic pressure in African American families: a replication and extension of the family stress model. Dev Psychol. 2002; 38: 179–193.
Singer JD, Willett JB. Applied longitudinal data analysis: Modeling event change and event occurrence: Oxford University Press; 2003.
MacLean WE Jr, Perrin JM, Gortmaker S, Pierre CB. Psychological adjustment of children with asthma: effects of illness severity and recent stressful life events. J Pediatr Psychol. 1992; 17(2): 159–171.
Carpentier MY, Mullins LL, Wagner JL, Wolfe-Christensen C, Chaney JM. Examination of the cognitive diathesis–stress conceptualization of the hopelessness theory of depression in children with chronic illness: the moderating influence of illness uncertainty. Children’s Health Care. 2007; 36: 181–196.
Ge X, Conger RD, Elder GH. Pubertal transition, stressful life events, and the emergence of gender differences in adolescent depressive symptoms. Dev Psychol. 2001; 37(3): 404–417.
Wallander JL, Varni JW, Babani L, Banis HT, DeHaan CB, Wilcox KT. Disability parameters, chronic strain, and adaptation of physically handicapped children and their mothers. J Pediatr Psychol. 1989; 14(1): 23–42.
Wallander JL, Varni JW. Adjustment in children with chronic physical disorders: programmatic research on a disability-stress-coping model. In: Greca AML, Siegel LJ, Wallander JL, Walker CE, eds. Stress and coping in child health. New York: Guilford Press; 1992: 279–296.
Joseph CLM, Peterson E, Havstad S, et al. A web-based, tailored asthma management program for urban African-American high school students. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2007; 175(9): 888.
Perrin JM, Maclean WE, Gortmaker SL, Asher KN. Improving the psychological status of children with asthma: a randomized controlled trial. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 1992; 13(4): 241–247.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Carter, J.S., Grant, K.E. A Prospective Comparison of Moderating Relationships among Stressors, Hopelessness, and Internalizing Symptoms in Low-Income Urban Youth with Asthma. J Urban Health 89, 598–613 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-011-9635-9
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-011-9635-9