Multicultural Considerations
When working with youth with depression it is important to be mindful of multicultural considerations. Cultural background of both student and counselor play a large role in shaping the way individuals view and respond to emotional distress and mental health status.
According to the American School Counselor Association's position on the role of the professional school counselor and cultural diversity:
According to the American School Counselor Association's position on the role of the professional school counselor and cultural diversity:
- Culture is a powerful and pervasive influence on students, stakeholders, and professional school counselors’ attitudes and behaviors. It has been noted that “educational opportunity and academic achievement are directly tied to the social divisions associated with race, ethnicity, gender, first language, and social class” (Gordon, 2006, p. 25).
- Effective and ethical school counselors need to possess cultural competence (Pedersen, Draguns, Lonner, & Trimble, 2002), including self-awareness, knowledge of others’ worldviews, and use of culturally sensitive skills (Sue, Arredondo, & Davis, 1992; Sue & Sue, 2006).
- Professional school counselors are expected to “specifically address the needs of every student, particularly students of culturally diverse, low social-economic status, and other underserved or underperforming populations” (ASCA, 2005, p. 77).
- The professional school counselor provides culturally competent counseling, consultation, and other services to promote student success. The school counselor also collaborates with stakeholders to create a school climate that welcomes and appreciates the strengths and gifts of culturally diverse students.
- Professional school counselors act as advocates for those who are marginalized by working with systems to address inequities in schools (Holcomb-McCoy, 2007).
Professional school counselors must be aware of the ways in which depression is perceived and manifested by students of different cultures and backgrounds. In order to best serve students counselors must understand the ways in which depression is affected by race, ethnicity, gender, culture, religion, social class, geographic location, disability, age, and other variables.
Below are some of the ways that research has shown depression to vary by several of the aforementioned characteristics:
Below are some of the ways that research has shown depression to vary by several of the aforementioned characteristics:
One of the broadest indicators of depressive symptoms comes from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS). This study asks: Have you ever felt so sad or hopeless almost every day, for two weeks in a row, that you couldn’t do some of your usual activities? Results from the 2005 YRBSS indicate that 36.7% of female and 20.4% of male high school students reported this level of sadness; Hispanic students reported higher rates (46.7% of females & 26.0% of males) than their non-Hispanic Black & White peers (Figure 3).
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Depression is more than twice as prevalent among females ages 15-20, compared to same-age males, according to an analysis of data from the 1990-1992 National Comorbidity Study (Figure 4). Three quarters (76%) of those who fulfilled the criteria for major depression also had other psychiatric diagnoses. In more than two-thirds of the cases, these other diagnoses preceded the depression. Among those with multiple diagnoses, anxiety disorders were experienced first by 40%, addictive disorders by 12%, and conduct disorders by 25% of the young people between 15 and 20 years of age. Only about one half of the depressed youth had ever told a professional of their depression.
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Researchers using the Center for Epidemiological Studies – Depression Scale (CES-D), identified degrees of depressive symptomatology: minimal, mild, moderate, and severe. Research on adolescents generally combines those with moderate and severe symptoms to identify those who are depressed. Examining AddHealth data, it was found that 9.2% of all students met their criteria for moderate or severe depression within the past week (5.9% of males and 12.6% of the females). Those who were non-White, had single parents, or whose mothers did not finish high school, had higher depression scores (Figure 5).
The following charts show additional information about depression in various adolescent populations by age, gender, race and Hispanic origin, and poverty status:
References
American School Counselor Association. (2009). The professional school counselor and cultural diversity. Retrieved from www.schoolcounselor.org/files/PS_CulturalDiversity.pdf
Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics. (2011). America’s children: Key national indicators of well-being; Adolescent depression. Retrieved from http://www.childstats.gov/americaschildren11/health4.asp
Knopf, D., Park, J., & Mulye, T. (2008). The mental health of adolescents: A national profile; National Adolescent Health Information Center. Retrieved from http://nahic.ucsf.edu/download/the-mental-health-of-adolescents-a-national-profile/
American School Counselor Association. (2009). The professional school counselor and cultural diversity. Retrieved from www.schoolcounselor.org/files/PS_CulturalDiversity.pdf
Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics. (2011). America’s children: Key national indicators of well-being; Adolescent depression. Retrieved from http://www.childstats.gov/americaschildren11/health4.asp
Knopf, D., Park, J., & Mulye, T. (2008). The mental health of adolescents: A national profile; National Adolescent Health Information Center. Retrieved from http://nahic.ucsf.edu/download/the-mental-health-of-adolescents-a-national-profile/