Does perceived racial discrimination predict changes in psychological distress and substance use over time? An examination among Black emerging adults.

We assessed whether perceived discrimination predicted changes in psychological distress and substance use over time and whether psychological distress and substance use predicted change in perceived discrimination over time. We also assessed whether associations between these constructs varied by gender. Our sample included 607 Black emerging adults (53% female) followed for 4 years. Participants reported the frequency with which they had experienced racial hassles during the past year, symptoms of anxiety and depression during the past week, and cigarette and alcohol use during the past 30 days. We estimated a series of latent growth models to test our study hypotheses. We found that the intercept of perceived discrimination predicted the linear slopes of anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, and alcohol use. We did not find any associations between the intercept factors of our mental health or substance use variables and the perceived discrimination linear slope factor. We found limited differences across paths by gender. Our findings suggest a temporal ordering in the associations among perceived racial discrimination, psychological distress, and alcohol use over time among emerging adults. Further, our findings suggest that perceived racial discrimination may be similarly harmful among men and women.

[1]  J. Eccles,et al.  Racial discrimination and substance use: longitudinal associations and identity moderators , 2012, Journal of Behavioral Medicine.

[2]  Kassandra I. Alcaraz,et al.  Perceived discrimination, psychological distress, and current smoking status: results from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Reactions to Race module, 2004-2008. , 2012, American journal of public health.

[3]  W. Klein,et al.  Research on race/ethnicity and health care discrimination: where we are and where we need to go. , 2012, American journal of public health.

[4]  G. Gee,et al.  A life course perspective on how racism may be related to health inequities. , 2012, American journal of public health.

[5]  G. Brody,et al.  Perceived discrimination and longitudinal increases in adolescent substance use: gender differences and mediational pathways. , 2012, American journal of public health.

[6]  N. Krieger.  Methods for the scientific study of discrimination and health: an ecosocial approach. , 2012, American journal of public health.

[7]  J. Eccles,et al.  Perceived Racial Discrimination as a Predictor of Health Behaviors: the Moderating Role of Gender , 2011, Race and social problems.

[8]  Daphne C. Watkins,et al.  Discrimination, Mastery, and Depressive Symptoms Among African American Men , 2011, Research on social work practice.

[9]  L. Borrell,et al.  Perceived racial/ethnic discrimination, smoking and alcohol consumption in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). , 2010, Preventive medicine.

[10]  J. Jackson,et al.  An intersectional approach for understanding perceived discrimination and psychological well-being among African American and Caribbean Black youth. , 2010, Developmental psychology.

[11]  J. Fortenberry,et al.  Gender differences in the association between perceived discrimination and adolescent smoking. , 2010, American journal of public health.

[12]  G. Gee,et al.  Does health predict the reporting of racial discrimination or do reports of discrimination predict health? Findings from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth. , 2009, Social science & medicine.

[13]  N. Gaylord-Harden,et al.  The Impact of Racial Discrimination and Coping Strategies on Internalizing Symptoms in African American Youth , 2009, Journal of youth and adolescence.

[14]  F. Gibbons,et al.  It Takes a Village: Protecting Rural African American Youth in the Context of Racism , 2009, Journal of youth and adolescence.

[15]  Debra J. Barksdale,et al.  Racial Discrimination and Blood Pressure: Perceptions, Emotions, and Behaviors of Black American Adults , 2009, Issues in mental health nursing.

[16]  A. Masten,et al.  Underage Drinking: A Developmental Framework , 2008, Pediatrics.

[17]  H. Reisinger,et al.  Long-Term Patterns of Drug Use Among an Urban African-American Cohort: The Role of Gender and Family , 2008, Journal of Urban Health.

[18]  David R. Williams,et al.  Self-reported racial discrimination and substance use in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Adults Study. , 2007, American journal of epidemiology.

[19]  Xiaojia Ge,et al.  Perceived discrimination and the adjustment of African American youths: a five-year longitudinal analysis with contextual moderation effects. , 2006, Child development.

[20]  Y. Paradies.  A systematic review of empirical research on self-reported racism and health. , 2006, International journal of epidemiology.

[21]  Kenneth A. Bollen,et al.  Latent curve models: A structural equation perspective , 2005 .

[22]  Leonard I. Pearlin,et al.  Stress, Health, and the Life Course: Some Conceptual Perspectives∗ , 2005, Journal of health and social behavior.

[23]  Gary G Bennett,et al.  Perceived racial/ethnic harassment and tobacco use among African American young adults. , 2005, American journal of public health.

[24]  Marc A Zimmerman,et al.  Racial identity, racial discrimination, perceived stress, and psychological distress among African American young adults. , 2003, Journal of health and social behavior.

[25]  H. Valdimarsdottir,et al.  Experiences of racist events are associated with negative health consequences for African American women. , 2003, Journal of the National Medical Association.

[26]  S. Mullainathan,et al.  Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination , 2003 .

[27]  Patrick M. O'Malley,et al.  Monitoring the Future National Results on Adolescent Drug Use: Overview of Key Findings, 2004. , 2003 .

[28]  D. Pager.  The Mark of a Criminal Record1 , 2003, American Journal of Sociology.

[29]  David R. Williams,et al.  African American Girls’ Smoking Habits and Day-to-Day Experiences With Racial Discrimination , 2002, Nursing research.

[30]  G. Gee,et al.  A multilevel analysis of the relationship between institutional and individual racial discrimination and health status. , 2002, American journal of public health.

[31]  L. Abramson,et al.  Development of gender differences in depression: an elaborated cognitive vulnerability-transactional stress theory. , 2001, Psychological bulletin.

[32]  S. Nolen-Hoeksema,et al.  Explaining the gender difference in depressive symptoms , 1999 .

[33]  David R. Williams,et al.  Racism as a stressor for African Americans. A biopsychosocial model , 1999 .

[34]  David R. Williams,et al.  The prevalence, distribution, and mental health correlates of perceived discrimination in the United States. , 1999, Journal of health and social behavior.

[35]  J. Phinney,et al.  Psychological Variables as Predictors of Perceived Ethnic Discrimination Among Minority and Immigrant Adolescents1 , 1998 .

[36]  W. Wilson.  More than Just Race: Being Black and Poor in the Inner City , 2009 .

[37]  C. E. Watkins,et al.  Racial discrimination-induced anger and alcohol use among black adolescents. , 2006, Adolescence.

[38]  J. Arnett.  Emerging Adulthood: Understanding the New Way of Coming of Age. , 2006 .

[39]  Patrick M O'Malley,et al.  Substance use among adults 35 years of age: prevalence, adulthood predictors, and impact of adolescent substance use. , 2004, American journal of public health.

[40]  R. Turner,et al.  Early and mid-adolescence risk factors for later substance abuse by African Americans and European Americans. , 2002, Public health reports.

[41]  E. Klonoff,et al.  Racial discrimination and cigarette smoking among Blacks: findings from two studies. , 2000, Ethnicity & disease.

[42]  David R. Williams,et al.  Being Black and Feeling Blue: The Mental Health Consequences of Racial Discrimination , 2000 .