Citation

Yeo AJ, Halpern LF, Flagg AM, Lin B. Cultur. Divers. Ethnic Minor. Psychol. 2022; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues; American Psychological Association)

DOI

10.1037/cdp0000549

PMID

35511523

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Black and Asian American emerging adults are at higher risk of experiencing racial/ethnic discrimination and related distress. Racial/ethnic discrimination may increase vulnerability for depressive symptoms by diminishing individuals' positive self-concept. While low global self-esteem has been noted as a crucial process linking discrimination and depressive symptoms, it is unclear if it plays a unique role beyond other relevant aspects of one's self-concept: racial/ethnic private regard and centrality. Moreover, although different racial/ethnic groups are known to experience discrimination in distinctive ways, little is known about how relative processes of self-esteem and racial/ethnic identity may differ across these groups. We investigated the generalizability and specificity of discrimination to distress linkages across Asian and Black Americans.

METHOD: Undergraduate Black (N = 109) and Asian American (N = 90) students self-reported racial/ethnic discrimination, depressive symptoms, and self-concept.

RESULTS: Global self-esteem indirectly linked the association between discrimination and depressive symptoms among Black Americans beyond the effects of racial/ethnic identity. Only among Black Americans, discrimination was associated with lower private regard.

CONCLUSIONS: Finding highlight group-specific processes underlying Black and Asian Americans' experiences of discrimination and depressive symptoms.

FINDINGS also demonstrate shared processes of discrimination-depressive symptoms linkage across groups and underscore the need to address the pervasive issues of racism and discrimination. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Language: en