State-level structural racism and adolescent mental health in the United States

Abstract

We explored state-level indicators of structural racism on internalizing symptoms of depressive affect among US adolescents. We merged 16 indicators of state-level structural racism with 2015-19 Monitoring the Future surveys (n = 41 258) examining associations with loneliness, self-esteem, self-derogation, and depressive symptoms using regression analyses. Students racialized as Black in states with bans on food stamp eligibility and temporary assistance for drug felony conviction had 1.37 times the odds of high depressive symptoms (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01-1.89) compared to students in states without bans. In contrast, students racialized as White living in states with more severe disenfranchisement of people convicted of felonies had lower odds of high self-derogation (odds ratio [OR], 0.89; 95% CI, 0.78-1.02) and high depressive symptoms (OR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.70-0.99) compared to states with less severe disenfranchisement. These findings demonstrate the need to address the legacy of structural racism at the state level to reduce mental distress for US youth.