18 - Psychopathology and Risky Sexual Behaviors among Black Adolescents

Summary

This chapter focuses on Black adolescents and the most common adolescent mental health concern: depression. It discusses prevalence estimates and identifies environmental and cultural risk and protective factors associated with depression. The chapter considers the role of racial discrimination and neighborhood influences as structural factors that have implications for psychopathology. It also examines what is known about the relationship between depression and risky sexual behaviors as a way to better understand the complexity of adolescent mental health and a prevalent problem behavior among Black youth. Throughout this chapter the term Black adolescents is used to refer to the numerous distinct cultures that characterize people of African ancestry who have settled in the United States. Challenges for future research include the use of measurement scales that may vary in meaning across racial/ethnic groups, the need to be more precise in defining key concepts, and the identification of sociocultural mediators.