Different trajectories of relationship satisfaction among rural Black couples following preventive relationship intervention.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined variability in response to a couple and relationship education program for Black coparenting couples using group-based trajectory modeling. We identified groups of couples with different relationship satisfaction trajectories across a 2-year period following preintervention assessment. METHOD: Black couples with a preadolescent child were randomized to the Protecting Strong African American Families intervention (N = 170) or a control condition (N = 174) and reported on their relationship satisfaction preintervention and approximately 9, 17, and 25 months later. RESULTS: Results indicated two trajectory groups among men and women receiving the intervention, comprising a large group consistently high in relationship satisfaction over time and a smaller group with moderate, stable satisfaction over time. In the control condition, there was also a large group of men and women who remained consistently high in satisfaction, but the smaller group with initially moderate satisfaction experienced decreased satisfaction over time. Trajectories among men and women in the moderate groups differed by treatment condition, reflecting nonsignificant change (i.e., stable satisfaction) for those receiving intervention and significant decline for controls. Trajectories among women in the high group also differed by treatment condition, reflecting better functioning among women receiving intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicated many benefits of intervention, most notably the stabilization of satisfaction among couples beginning with moderate satisfaction (who experienced declining satisfaction in the control condition). Similar examination of within-sample variability in response to other couple and relationship education programs may enhance understanding of specific treatment effects and guide identification of those most likely to benefit from relationship intervention. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Patterns and predictors of change in relationship status among Black mothers over 16 weeks postpartum.

The transition to parenthood has long been viewed as a period of change in new parents' romantic relationships. However, this research has largely focused on changes in relationship quality, generally overlooking changes in relationship status (e.g., ending or entering a relationship during this period). To address this gap, we explored patterns and predictors of relationship dissolution and relationship formation during the early postpartum period among a sample of first-time Black mothers. A community sample of mothers living with low incomes (N = 212; 10% married; 85% enrolled in Medicaid) reported on their relationship status and other characteristics at 1, 8, and 16 weeks postpartum. Among mothers who were in a relationship at 1 week postpartum (N = 126), 20% of these relationships ended by Week 8 or 16. Mothers whose relationships ended reported lower relationship functioning at Week 1 than mothers whose relationships remained intact. Among mothers who were single at 1 week postpartum (N = 86), over 50% subsequently reported being in a relationship at Week 8 or 16. Mothers who started relationships reported lower overall social support at Week 1 relative to mothers who remained single. Together, these findings indicate that changes in relationship status during the early postpartum period were common and provide initial insights into factors characterizing mothers who experienced relationship transitions. Future work would benefit from considering changes in relationship status as well as other relational changes during the transition to parenthood to reflect a wider range of experiences among new parents. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Stress Accumulation, Depressive Symptoms, and Sleep Problems among Black Americans in the Rural South.

Centuries of systemic racism in the United States have led to Black Americans facing a disproportionate amount of life stressors. These stressors can have negative effects on mental and physical health, contributing to inequities throughout the lifespan. The current study used longitudinal data from 692 Black adults in the rural South to examine the ways in which neighborhood stress, financial strain, and interpersonal experiences of racial discrimination operate independently and in tandem to impact depressive symptoms and sleep problems over time. Findings provided strong support for univariate and additive stress effects and modest support for multiplicative stress effects. Results underscore how multiple stressors stemming from systemic racism can undermine health among Black Americans and highlight the need for further research on factors that promote well-being in the face of these stressors.

Changes in depressive symptoms and antibody production following influenza vaccination in adolescents and adults.

OBJECTIVE: Psychological distress has been associated with dampened antibody production following vaccination. Questions remain, however, about whether psychological distress influences vaccine response uniformly across the lifespan, and whether changes in distress result in changes in antibody production across the same period. METHODS: Participants (N = 148; Mage = 32.2 years, SD = 19.7, range = 12-80 years) took part in consecutive vaccine studies during the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 influenza seasons. Each influenza season, they reported on their depressive symptoms, provided blood samples, and received the standard influenza vaccine. Participants then provided a second blood sample one month later. Antibody titers were examined pre- and post-vaccination. RESULTS: Analyses examined both within-season and across-season effects of depressive symptoms, age, and their interaction on vaccine response. Within-season analyses revealed that age predicted antibody response during both seasons (2017-2018 and 2018-2019). Neither depressive symptoms nor the interaction with age were associated with antibody response to vaccination within either season. Across the two seasons, age significantly moderated the association between change in depressive symptoms and change in antibody production. For people who were 48 or older, increases in depressive symptoms across the two seasons were associated with a less robust response to the vaccine in the second season relative to the first season. For people younger than 48, changes in depressive symptoms were not significantly related to changes in antibody production. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the important role of mental health for older adults' vaccine response, which could have clinical relevance for protection against disease.

Mental health profiles of depressive symptoms and personal well-being among active-duty military families.

Although some research has examined the mental health of individual family members in military families, additional research is needed that considers mental health among multiple members of the family system simultaneously and that characterizes subsets of families with distinct patterns. Mental health patterns of depressive symptoms and well-being in and among families were identified using latent profile analysis with a community sample of 236 military families with a service member (SM) parent, civilian partner, and adolescent. Drawing from the Family Adjustment and Adaptation Response model, we examined several military-related family demands (e.g., relocations, deployments) and capabilities (e.g., family cohesion, social support outside the family) as correlates of the family profiles. Three profiles emerged: thriving families (62.3% of the sample where all three family members reported relatively low depressive symptoms and high personal well-being), families with a relatively distressed SM (24.2%), and families with a relatively distressed adolescent (13.5%). Overall, there were no differences between the groups of families regarding military-related demands, yet there were differences between the groups regarding their capabilities, namely family cohesion and social support. In general, families in the thriving profile tended to have higher family cohesion and social support as reported by multiple family members compared to the other two profiles. Findings can inform the development of family needs assessments and tailored interventions (and intervention points) based on family profiles and current capabilities.

Predictors of change in relationship satisfaction among Black postpartum mothers.

The transition to parenthood can be a challenging time for the relationships of new parents and result in declines in relationship satisfaction. Although a robust literature has identified characteristics that predict changes in relationship satisfaction during this period, the relationships of Black mothers postpartum remain understudied. To address this gap, we examined a set of relational, individual, and external characteristics as predictors of relationship satisfaction trajectories over the first four months postpartum. First-time Black mothers (N = 93, 22.6% married, 52.7% cohabiting, 24.7% not cohabiting) reported on relational, individual, and external characteristics at 1 week postpartum and their relationship satisfaction at 1, 8, and 16 weeks postpartum. Mothers who reported more commitment and partner support were higher in initial satisfaction, as were mothers who were married or cohabiting with a partner (relative to mothers who were not cohabiting with their partner). Mothers with clinically significant depressive symptoms at 1 week postpartum had lower initial relationship satisfaction than mothers without clinically significant depressive symptoms. Mothers' sleep difficulties and experiences of racial discrimination were associated with changes in relationship satisfaction over time; mothers experiencing more sleep difficulties and racial discrimination experienced larger declines in satisfaction. These findings offer new insights into risk and protective factors associated with relationship satisfaction among Black mothers during the early postpartum period and can inform multicomponent interventions to enhance their relationship functioning.

Responsive parenting and Black mothers' postpartum sleep: Secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if an intervention designed to enhance early responsive parenting (RP) practices (e.g., reading infant cues, establishing bedtime routines) and promote infant sleep and soothing among Black families has secondary benefits for mothers' postpartum sleep. METHOD: This preregistered secondary analysis of the Sleep Strong African American Families randomized controlled trial investigated effects of an RP intervention versus a safety control condition on self-reported maternal sleep difficulties at 8 and 16 weeks postpartum and on actigraph-measured maternal sleep at 8 weeks postpartum. RESULTS: The 212 randomized mothers were Black/African American (100%) and non-Hispanic (98.6%) and averaged 22.7 years (SD = 4.5) of age. Among 138 mothers with useable actigraph data, RP mothers had a mean 20 [95% CI: 2, 37] minutes longer actigraph-measured total sleep time than controls at 8 weeks postpartum, after adjusting for age and other covariates likely to influence mothers' sleep (p = .04). Participation in the RP intervention did not significantly impact self-reported sleep difficulties or other actigraph-measured sleep parameters (e.g., efficiency) in either unadjusted or adjusted models, although RP effects on sleep difficulties and sleep efficiency were in the hypothesized directions. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions supporting responsive sleep parenting practices to increase infant sleep may also help first-time Black mothers get more sleep themselves during the postpartum period, even without an explicit focus on maternal sleep strategies. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Are changes in marital satisfaction sustained and steady, or sporadic and dramatic?

Although prominent theories of intimate relationships, and couples themselves, often conceive of relationships as fluctuating widely in their degree of closeness, longitudinal studies generally describe partners' satisfaction as stable and continuous or as steadily declining over time. The increasing use of group-based trajectory models (GBTMs) to identify distinct classes of change has reinforced this characterization, but these models fail to account for individual differences within classes and within-person variability across classes and may thus misrepresent how couples' satisfaction changes. The goal of the current analyses was to determine whether accounting for these additional sources of variance through growth mixture models (GMMs) alters characterizations of satisfaction changes over time. Applied to longitudinal data from 12 independent studies of first-married couples (combined N = 1,249 couples), GMMs that allowed for class-specific individual differences and within-person variability fit the data better than the GBTMs that constrained these to be equal across classes. Most notably, considerable within-person variability was evident within each class, consistent with the idea that spouses do indeed fluctuate in their satisfaction. Spouses who dissolved their marriages were 3.8-5.7 times more likely to be in classes characterized by greater volatility in satisfaction. Because the early years of marriage appear to be characterized by within-person fluctuations in satisfaction, time-varying correlates of these fluctuations are likely to be at least as important as time-invariant correlates in explaining why some marriages thrive where others falter. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Sleep SAAF Responsive Parenting Intervention for Black Mothers Impacts Response to Infant Crying: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

OBJECTIVE: Many parents use food to soothe their infant, regardless of infant hunger, which can increase risk for rapid weight gain. Interventions promoting alternative soothing strategies may help parents respond more appropriately to crying. This secondary analysis aimed to examine effects of the Sleep SAAF (Strong African American Families) responsive parenting (RP) intervention on maternal responses to infant crying and to explore moderating effects of infant negativity. METHODS: Primiparous Black mothers (n = 212) were randomized to an RP or safety control intervention, delivered during home visits at 3 and 8 weeks postpartum. Parents were empowered to first use non-food soothing strategies (eg, white noise, swaddling) when responding to crying. Mothers completed the Babies Need Soothing questionnaire at 8 and 16 weeks, and the Infant Behavior Questionnaire at 16 weeks. Data were analyzed using linear or logistic regression. RESULTS: RP mothers were significantly more likely than controls to use shushing/white noise to soothe their infant at 8 (OR = 4.9, 95% CI: 2.2-10.6) and 16 weeks (OR = 4.8, 95% CI: 2.2-10.5), to go for a walk in stroller/ride in car at 8 weeks (OR = 2.3, 95% CI: 1.2-4.6), and to swing/rock/bounce their infant at 16 weeks (OR = 5.5, 95% CI: 1.2-25.7). RP mothers also reported significantly more frequent use of deep breathing, exercising, and bathing/showering than controls when frustrated with crying. Infant negativity moderated some intervention effects such that the RP intervention was more effective at increasing use of some soothing practices among mothers with less negative infants. CONCLUSIONS: An RP intervention positively impacted first-time Black mothers' responses to infant crying.

Sexual minority youth in romantic relationships: Associations with youth well-being.

This study investigated differences in depressive symptoms, loneliness, and self-esteem for monosexual (lesbian, gay) and plurisexual (bisexual, pansexual, queer) sexual minority youth (SMY) by relationship status (single, partnered) and relationship configuration (same-gender partner, different-gender partner). Participants included 338 SMY (Mage = 19.10 years) who reported on their relationship status, partner's gender identity, well-being, and ability to confide in partner about LGBTQ issues. Results indicated that for plurisexual youth, single status was associated with greater loneliness; plurisexual youth with same-gender partners reported fewer depressive symptoms and marginally greater ability to confide in their partner about LGBTQ issues than those with different-gender partners. Findings reveal similarities across SMY while also highlighting some unique challenges among plurisexual youth with different-gender partners.

The benefits of nurturant-involved parenting for children's internalizing symptoms and cardiometabolic health in high-risk contexts.

Despite evidence that nurturant-involved parenting is linked with children's social, psychological, and physiological development, less is known about the specific contexts in which nurturant-involved parenting is most beneficial for children's mental and physical health. The present study examined how associations between nurturant-involved parenting and children's internalizing symptoms and cardiometabolic risk varied as a function of children's stress and discrimination. Participants included 165 Black and Latinx children (Mage = 11.5 years) and their guardians. Children reported on their ongoing stress, experiences of discrimination, and internalizing symptoms (depression and anxiety). Guardians provided information about their nurturant-involved parenting practices. Children's cardiometabolic risk was assessed as a composite reflecting a high level of systolic or diastolic blood pressure, waist circumference, HbA1c, triglycerides, and low HDL cholesterol. Regression analyses indicated that among youth who reported high levels of stress and discrimination, nurturant-involved parenting was negatively associated with cardiometabolic risk. Although children's stress and discrimination were significantly associated with their internalizing symptoms, neither stress nor discrimination moderated the relation between nurturant-involved parenting and internalizing symptoms. Results highlight the significant role that parents play in shaping children's health, particularly among youth experiencing high levels of stress and discrimination.

Shift-and-persist coping and health among rural African American adolescents.

This study examines whether shift-and-persist coping, a coping strategy defined by accepting challenges and remaining hopeful for the future, is associated with psychosocial and physical health and/or moderates the effects of contextual stress (i.e., racial discrimination, financial strain) on health among African American adolescents living in the rural Southeastern United States. Participants (N = 299, 56% boys, Mage = 12.91) completed measures of shift-and-persist coping, contextual stress, and psychosocial and physical health. Shift-and-persist coping was generally associated with better health but did not buffer the effects of contextual stress. Results suggest that shift-and-persist coping may serve as a source of resilience among African American adolescents living in a context where many experience heightened contextual stress.

A latent profile analysis of perceived family reactions to youth LGBTQ identity.

Family members' reactions to youth identity disclosure are important predictors of well-being for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (LGBTQ) youth. To better understand potential variation within and across families' current reactions, this study established latent profiles of family level reaction patterns and examined predictors and outcomes associated with these patterns. In 2011-2012, LGBTQ youth (N = 447, Mage = 18.8) rated their mother's, father's, brother's, and sister's reactions to their LGBTQ identity and reported their own depressive symptoms and self-esteem. Latent profile analysis tested patterns of family members' reactions. Most participants reported either moderately positive reactions (49.2%) or very positive reactions (34.0%) from all family members, though 16.8% of youth reported negative reactions from all family members. Youth social positions and demographic factors predicted profile membership: transgender youth, youth-assigned male at birth, older age at first disclosure predicted membership in the negative family reaction profile, whereas gay youth, having a parent and/or sibling with an LGBTQ identity, coresidence with either mothers, fathers, or siblings, and more years since first disclosure predicted membership in the very positive family reaction profile. Multiracial youth and younger youth were more likely to be in the moderately positive family reaction profile. Youth in families characterized by negative reactions had higher depressive symptoms and lower self-esteem compared to those who reported moderately positive or very positive reactions. Findings underscore the interconnectedness of family members' reactions and suggest that interventions for LGBTQ youth with rejecting and/or less accepting family members may need to target the entire family system. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Couples' communication quality differs by topic.

Extensive research has demonstrated that couples' communication quality is related to many aspects of couples' lives, including relationship satisfaction. However, the possibility that the quality of couples' communication might vary as a function of the topic of communication and the implications of this variability have received relatively little attention. Accordingly, this study sought to examine (a) within-person variability in communication quality between topics, (b) associations with relationship satisfaction, and (c) associations with stressors focal to specific topics. Black coparenting couples (N = 344) reported on their communication quality around four topics: finances, children, racial discrimination, and kinfolk. Results indicated that communication quality significantly differed across topics. Communication quality was lowest for finances and kinfolk, significantly higher when discussing problems with children, and highest when discussing racial discrimination. Moreover, communication quality when discussing finances, kinfolk, and racial discrimination each uniquely predicted relationship satisfaction, even after controlling for each other and for general communication skills. Experiencing more stress around finances and children was associated with poorer communication quality in the focal area (and for financial stress, in some other communication topics as well), whereas the extent of racial discrimination was not significantly associated with communication quality for any topic. These findings reveal significant variability in couples' communication across topics and demonstrate that considering communication for different topics can offer unique information about couples' relationship satisfaction beyond general communication skills. Further research examining topic-specific communication quality may enhance understanding of and interventions for couples' communication. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Strengthening couple functioning promotes resilience to COVID-19-related stressors among Black Americans.

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in substantial hardship for Black Americans, leading to increased stress and mental health difficulties. We used longitudinal data from the Protecting Strong African American Families (ProSAAF) intervention study to test the hypothesis that improved couple functioning following ProSAAF participation would serve as a constructed resilience resource during the pandemic, buffering the impact of elevated pandemic-related stressors on change in depressive symptoms. We found that COVID-19-related stress predicted change in depressive symptoms from prepandemic to during the pandemic, that ProSAAF predicted improved couple functioning, and that positive change in couple functioning buffered the impact of pandemic stressors on change in depressive symptoms. These effects resulted in a significant indirect buffering effect of ProSAAF on the association between COVID-19-related stress and change in depressive symptoms through its effects on change in couple functioning. The results suggest that relationship intervention may increase resilience to unanticipated community-wide stress and promote mental health. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Effects of a Responsive Parenting Intervention Among Black Families on Infant Sleep: A Secondary Analysis of the Sleep SAAF Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Black individuals in the US experience sleep disparities beginning in infancy and continuing throughout the lifespan, suggesting early interventions are needed to improve sleep. Objective: To investigate whether a responsive parenting (RP) intervention for Black mothers improves infant sleep and increases responsive sleep parenting practices. Design, Setting, and Participants: This is a post hoc secondary analysis of the Sleep SAAF (Strong African American Families) study, a randomized clinical trial comparing an RP intervention with a safety control condition over the first 16 weeks post partum. Data were collected between spring 2018 and summer 2021. Families were recruited from the mother-infant nursery at Augusta University Medical Center, Augusta, Georgia, and completed home visits at 1, 3, 8, and 16 weeks post partum. Primiparous Black mother-infant dyads were screened for eligibility using medical records. Results were analyzed on an intention-to-treat model. Data were analyzed from March 2022 to January 2023. Interventions: The RP intervention curriculum focused on infant sleep, soothing and crying, and feeding. The control group received a safety intervention. Community research associates delivered the interventions during home visits at 3 and 8 weeks post partum. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary end point was infant sleep duration at 16 weeks. Mothers reported on bedtime routine and sleep behaviors, infant sleep duration, and nighttime waking and feeding at 8 and 16 weeks post partum using questionnaires. Results: A total of 212 Black mothers (mean [SD] age, 22.7 [4.5] years) were randomized, including 208 mothers (98.6%) who identified as non-Hispanic and 3 mothers (1.4%) who identified as Hispanic; 108 mothers were randomized to the RP group and 104 mothers were randomized to the control group. At 16 weeks post partum, infants in the RP group had longer reported nighttime sleep duration (mean difference, 40 [95% CI, 3 to 77] minutes), longer total sleep duration (mean difference, 73 [95% CI, 14 to 131] minutes), fewer nighttime wakings (mean difference, -0.4 [95% CI, -0.6 to -0.1] wakings), and greater likelihood of meeting guidelines of at least 12 hours of total sleep per day (risk ratio [RR], 1.4 [95% CI, 95% CI, 1.1 to 1.8]) than controls. Relative to controls, mothers in the RP group more frequently reported engaging in some RP practices, including giving the baby a few minutes to fall back asleep on their own (RR, 1.6 [95% CI, 1.0 to 2.6]) and being less likely to feed their baby as the last activity before bed (RR, 0.5 [95% CI, 0.3 to 0.8]). Conclusions and Relevance: This secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial found that an RP intervention for Black families improved infant sleep and increased some responsive sleep parenting practices. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03505203.

Enhancing fathers' parenting through strengthening couple functioning: A randomized controlled trial of low-income couples.

OBJECTIVE: High levels of father engagement are associated with better outcomes for children across a number of domains. Correlational evidence suggests that the quality of the romantic relationship between parents plays a strong role in the extent to which fathers are meaningfully involved with their children, but existing literature cannot address whether this link is causal. To address this gap, the present study leveraged data from a randomized controlled trial of a couple-focused relationship education program for low-income couples to examine whether intervention-induced improvements in couple functioning led to better fathering outcomes. METHOD: Data were drawn from the Supporting Healthy Marriages study, in which 6,298 low-income, married couples with children were randomized to an intervention or control condition. Couple relationship functioning was assessed 12-months postrandomization, and fathering behavior across four dimensions (involvement, warmth, responsiveness, and monitoring) was assessed 30-months postrandomization. RESULTS: Structural equation models revealed that the intervention had a significant direct effect on fathers' and mothers' couple functioning, but did not have a significant direct effect on fathering outcomes. However, the intervention did have a significant indirect effect on fathering outcomes through fathers' ratings of couple functioning, such that the intervention was associated with small positive indirect effects on fathers' involvement, warmth, responsiveness, and monitoring. CONCLUSIONS: Intervention-derived improvements in the couple relationship led to improvements in father engagement, supporting a causal association between these variables. Couple-focused interventions may be a viable option to enhance couple functioning and (indirectly) fathers' parenting among families living with low incomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The protective role of parental vigilance in the link between risky childhood environments and health.

Growing up in a risky environment is associated with poor lifespan physical and mental health. However, promotive factors that have protective or compensatory effects (i.e., buffer against negative outcomes or promote positive ones in the context of risk) allow individuals to remain healthy despite adverse upbringings. Parental vigilance, including parents' efforts to set boundaries and limitations and/or monitor and have knowledge of children's daily lives, has been shown to buffer and protect against negative health outcomes among individuals who grow up in risky environments. Conversely, some aspects of parental vigilance have been shown to be maladaptive for, or unrelated to, health among individuals who are raised in low-risk environments. The current study leveraged longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 97 (NLSY97; https://www.nlsinfo.org/content/cohorts/nlsy97) to explore the link between environmental risk in adolescence and indices of physical and mental health in young adulthood, and whether parental vigilance (limit-setting and knowledge) buffered these associations (n = 4829). Results indicated that childhood environmental risk predicted a greater likelihood of experiencing physical health limitations at age 29 but was not significantly associated with mental health symptoms at approximately age 34. Further, there was evidence that parental limit-setting (but not knowledge) buffered the relation between childhood risk and physical health limitations, such that the association between risk and physical limitations became slightly less pronounced at greater levels of parental limit-setting. Additionally, maternal knowledge was associated with fewer mental health symptoms in young adulthood among all participants. Results highlight the importance of parental limit-setting in reducing physical health consequences associated with childhood risk and suggest that there may be long-term mental health benefits of maternal knowledge of adolescents, regardless of childhood risk exposure.

Racial discrimination predicts depressive symptoms throughout adolescence among Black youth.

Experiences of racial discrimination are common among Black youth and predict worse mental health cross-sectionally and over time. Additional research is needed to address lingering questions regarding the direction of effect(s) underlying these patterns, differences in the magnitude of effects across adolescence, and gender differences. To address these gaps, the current study tested bidirectional linkages between racial discrimination and depressive symptoms at the between- (interpersonal) and within- (intrapersonal) level using 4 waves of data from 889 Black youth (54% female) from Georgia and Iowa. Participants reported experiences of racial discrimination and depressive symptoms at ages 10.6 years (Wave 1), 12.5 years (Wave 2), 15.7 years (Wave 3), and 18.8 years (Wave 4). The cross-lagged panel model (CLPM) was used to examine between-person associations over time, and the random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) was used to examine within-person associations over time. Results were consistent across models, revealing significant concurrent associations between racial discrimination and depressive symptoms, significant lagged effects from racial discrimination to depressive symptoms, and no significant lagged effects from depressive symptoms to racial discrimination. Effects did not differ across adolescence, and there were few gender differences in the degree of association between racial discrimination and depressive symptoms. Findings provide rigorous evidence that experiencing greater racial discrimination is associated with increases in depressive symptoms throughout adolescence and add to a growing body of work showing that racial discrimination can undermine mental health and well-being among Black youth. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).