Depression among individuals who have been racially and ethnically minoritized in the United States can be vastly different from that of non-Hispanic White Americans. For example, African American adults who have depression rate their symptoms as more severe, have a longer course of illness, and experience more depression-associated disability. The purpose of this review was to conceptualize how structural racism and cumulative trauma can be fundamental drivers of the intergenerational transmission of depression. The authors propose that understanding risk factors for depression, particularly its intergenerational reach, requires accounting for structural racism. In light of the profoundly different experiences of African Americans who experience depression (i.e., a more persistent course of illness and greater disability), it is critical to examine whether an emerging explanation for some of these differences is the intergenerational transmission of this disorder due to structural racism.

在美国，种族和族裔少数群体的抑郁症可能与非西班牙裔美国白人的抑郁症有很大不同。例如，患有抑郁症的非裔美国成年人认为他们的症状更严重，病程更长，并且经历更多与抑郁症相关的残疾。本次综述的目的是概念化结构性种族主义和累积创伤如何成为抑郁症代际传播的根本驱动因素。作者提出，了解抑郁症的风险因素，特别是其代际影响，需要考虑结构性种族主义。鉴于患有抑郁症的非洲裔美国人的经历截然不同（即更持久的病程和更大的残疾），至关重要的是要检查对其中一些差异的新解释是否是这种疾病的代际传播，这是由于结构性种族主义。