The impact of subjective, interpersonal, and structural social isolation on the mental health of African Americans and Black Caribbeans

ABSTRACT

Research on social isolation and mental health among Black populations is underdeveloped. Using a nationally representative sample, our study examined the association between social isolation, depressive symptoms and psychological distress among African Americans (AAs) and Black Caribbeans (BCs). For both AAs and BCs, we found interpersonal and subjective isolation were associated with greater depressive symptoms. Greater distress was associated with greater subjective isolation and lower structural isolation for AAs; however, greater interpersonal isolation was associated with greater distress for BCs. Findings from this study may inform evidence-based interventions to mitigate isolation and improve mental health among AAs and BCs.

KEYWORDS:

• Extended family
• mental health
• social networks
• social participation
• social support

Acknowledgments

All authors conceptualized, helped to write, and edited the paper. R. J. Taylor supervised the data analysis.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/15332985.2024.2326492

Data availability statement

Data from the National Survey of American Life are de-identified and made available to the public from the following website: https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/ICPSR/studies/20240/versions/V8/datadocumentation

Additional information

Funding

The preparation of this article was supported from grants from the National Institute on Aging to HOT (1 P30 AG059298) to AWN (P30 AG072959) and to RJT (P30 AG015281).