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Abstract
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BACKGROUND: Child maltreatment is a potent risk factor for depression across the life course, with maltreatment and depression demonstrated to disproportionately impact youth of color. Despite evidence for mechanisms (e.g., social information processing; SIP) accounting for the effects of maltreatment on youth broadly, pathways of risk for depression among maltreated youth of color specifically remain largely under-investigated.
OBJECTIVE: In an effort to address this gap in the literature, the present review synthesizes available research regarding SIP as a mechanism underlying the impact of maltreatment on the development of depression in general, and among youth of color specifically. PARTICIPANTS & SETTING: A review of literature was conducted on English language articles published between 1989 and 2022 involving maltreatment, depression, social information processing, and/or youth of color.
METHODS: An electronic database search using terms "Maltreatment," "Depression," "Social Information Processing," "Social Cognition," and "Youth of Color" identified relevant literature.
RESULTS: Synthesis of literature supports SIP as a salient mechanism in the effect of maltreatment on depressive symptomatology for youth broadly, identifying the need for additional empirical work explicitly assessing this pathway among youth of color.
CONCLUSION: In addition to support for SIP as a risk pathway for youth broadly, this review highlights associated processes that can lend support to SIP as a meaningful mechanism of risk for youth of color. Additionally, this review addresses the deficit-based approach through which research and intervention tools evaluate youth of color experiencing maltreatment and depression, proposing alternative approaches towards prevention and intervention efforts with this marginalized population.
Language: en |