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Racial disparities in perceived social support and social service use: Associations with maternal depression and head start participation
Author(s) -
Lee Kyunghee,
Rispoli Kristin
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/jcop.21912
Subject(s) - head start , helpfulness , early head start , receipt , depression (economics) , social support , psychology , social work , medicine , developmental psychology , social psychology , political science , world wide web , computer science , law , economics , macroeconomics
Using the Head Start Impact Study data, this study examined racial disparities in maternal perceptions of social support and social service receipt, and their associations with depression. Associations between Head Start participation and these variables were also studied. A total of 3,269 mothers were included ( n = 971 Black, 1,086 Hispanic, and 1,212 White). Compared to White mothers, Hispanic mothers indicated perceiving less assistance from social supports. Black and Hispanic mothers were less likely to use social services and reported lower levels of depression than White mothers. Head Start mothers perceived more helpfulness from social supports than non‐Head Start mothers. Head Start, however, was not associated with social service use or maternal depression. Results suggest Head Start participation may be related to greater ability to reap benefits from relationships with friends and family among low‐income mothers.