The relationship between perceptions of parental bonding and lifetime history of major depressive disorder among Hispanic and Black college students

Depression is a common occurrence among college students, with a higher rate of among minority students than white non-Hispanic students. The aims of this study were to examine: (1) the relationship between perceptions of parental bonding and lifetime history of major depressive disorder (MDD); (2) whether the two- or three-factor model of the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), explains NIDD better; and (3) whether these relationships are moderated by dysfunctional attitudes about the self and others or by ethnicity. A nonprobability sample of 175 Hispanic and black undergraduate students was obtained. Measures included: PBI (maternal and paternal versions), Inventory to Diagnose Depression - Lifetime Version, Dysfunctional Attitude Scale, Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, gender, ethnicity, educational attainment, marital status, and employment status. Lower levels of maternal and paternal care, lower levels of maternal warmth, and higher levels of maternal and paternal overprotection and authoritarianism were associated with MDD in bivariate analyses. Hispanic students with lower levels of maternal care and higher levels of maternal and paternal overprotection and authoritarianism had a greater likelihood of reporting MDD. None of the PBI scales were associated with MDD among black students. Multiple logistic regression analyses revealed that none of the subscales of the two-factor or three-factor PBI were associated with MDD. Ethnicity moderated the relationship between the paternal care scale of the PBI and MDD, with a greater protective effect seen for black as compared with Hispanic students. Being female, history of emotional abuse and history of physical neglect were associated with greater likelihood of MDD. These findings are consistent with bivariate analyses of previous studies that found an association between the two and three factor models of the PBI and depression. The multivariable analyses revealed that the PBI is not associated with MDD when controlling for confounding. Implications for social work include the need: (1) for practitioners to be knowledgeable about factors related to MDD in order to develop culturally competent treatment plans and use appropriate clinical interventions; and (2) to incorporate this information in the classrooms as future practitioners should make informed decisions in selecting culturally competent clinical treatment as indicated by empirical-based evidence