A longitudinal study of stress-buffering effects for urban African-American male adolescent problem behaviors and mental health

The stress-buffering hypothesis was explored longitudinally in a sample of 173 urban, male, African-American adolescents. Data on parental and friend support, stressful life events, alcohol iind substance use, delinquency, an d psychological symptoms were collected twice, six months apart. No support for the stress-buffering hypothesis was found for any of the dependent var iables. Friend support also was unrelated to the dependent variables longit udinally. Parental support predicted less anxiety and depression longitudin ally, but psychological symptoms did not predict increased parental support over time. The findings suggest that parental support may help insulate th ese African-American youths from anxiety and depression, but that the youth s' symptoms do not necessarily activate increased levels of parental suppor t. The results of this study add to the growing body of research that indic ates the positive role parental support plays in the healthy development of African-American adolescents. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.