Social factors of depression among Cuban and Indochinese American adolescents

ABSTRACT This study used data from the first wave of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (CILS) [Portes, A., & Rumbaut, R. G. (2008). Children of immigrants longitudinal study (CILS). Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research] to examine cross-cultural differences and similarities in risk and protective factors of depression in a sample of 1827 Cuban and Indochinese adolescents aged from 13 to 16 years old: 1197 Cubans and 630 Indochinese. The results revealed that discrimination, poor family economic situation, sex, and age were risk factors of depression. English language speaking, parental love, parental attention, and living with both parents were protective factors against depression. There was a significant interaction association between sex and ethnic groups with depression and a significant interaction association between age and ethnic groups with depression. The results relating to cross-cultural differences and similarities in risk and protective factors of depression between ethnic immigrant adolescents are discussed, and recommendations for school counsellors, social workers, and mental health service providers are highlighted.