The impact of early racial discrimination on illegal behavior, arrest, and incarceration among African Americans.

The prospective relations between perceived racial discrimination (PRD), assessed at 4 different time periods from childhood through adolescence, along with assessments of PRD from the police ("hassling"), and self-reports of arrest and incarceration at a mean age of 24.5 years, were examined in a sample of 889 African Americans from the Family and Community Health Study. Multiple covariates were included in the analyses (e.g., academic orientation, socioeconomic status, self-control). Structural equation modeling revealed relations between PRD, especially that assessed in childhood, and both arrest and incarceration reported in adulthood. Mediators of these relations included deviant affiliation and self-reports of both substance use and illegal behavior. PRD from the police directly predicted subsequent illegal behavior. Racial pride moderated reactions to both types of PRD: Persons high in racial pride reported more illegal behavior after PRD from police but less illegal behavior in the absence of perceived police discrimination and less illegal behavior overall. Finally, childhood PRD, but not adolescent PRD, directly predicted incarceration that occurred up to 14 years later, and it did so when controlling for arrest, self-reported illegal behavior, and other covariates. The importance of childhood PRD experiences and possible avenues of intervention suggested by the pattern of results are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Gratefulness and subjective well-being: Social connectedness and presence of meaning as mediators.

The association between gratefulness and well-being is well established; however, few studies have examined the mechanisms that underlie this association. The broaden-and-build theory (Fredrickson, 1998, 2001) posits that positive emotions broaden individuals' momentary thought-action repertoires, which serve to build personal resources that can be drawn upon during future stressful encounters. Based on this theory, the current study examined whether gratefulness, a positive emotion, would build social and cognitive resources in terms of social connectedness and presence of meaning in life (i.e., mediators), which subsequently contribute to subjective well-being (SWB). A total of 232 students participated in an online survey at 2 different time points (3 months apart). The mediational hypothesis was tested by latent change score analyses using structural equation modeling techniques. The results showed that changes in gratefulness predicted changes in social connectedness and presence of meaning in life, which, in turn, predicted changes in SWB. The study's findings provided further support for the broaden-and-build theory and suggested that gratefulness is an important positive emotion that contributes to SWB through increased social connectedness and a greater presence of meaning in life. (PsycINFO Database Record

Social connectedness and intolerance of uncertainty as moderators between racial microaggressions and anxiety among Black individuals.

The current study investigated whether a cultural factor (i.e., social connectedness) and a dispositional characteristic (i.e., intolerance of uncertainty) would serve as risk factors or protective factors in the association between perceived racial microaggressions and anxiety symptoms in a sample of 126 Black American individuals. Results demonstrated that perceived racial microaggression was positively associated with anxiety symptoms in Black Americans. In addition, hierarchical regression analyses identified ethnic social connectedness and intolerance of uncertainty as moderators for anxiety symptoms. Specifically, social connectedness to one's ethnic community served as a buffer and intolerance of uncertainty acted as an exacerbating factor in the relationship between perceived racial microaggressions and anxiety symptoms. Future research directions and clinical implications are discussed.

Testing a mediation framework for the link between perceived discrimination and psychological distress among sexual minority individuals.

Perceived discrimination is a risk factor for mental health problems among sexual minority individuals. An increasing number of research studies have investigated the mechanisms through which stigma-related stressors such as perceived discrimination are linked with adverse mental health outcomes for sexual minority populations. The integrative mediation framework proposed by Hatzenbuehler (2009) underscores the importance of identifying mediators in the association between stigma-related stressors and mental health outcomes. This study tested 3 mediators--expectations of rejection, anger rumination, and self-compassion--in the perceived discrimination-distress link. Moreover, it examined associations among these mediators. A nationwide sample of 265 sexual minorities responded to an online survey. Structural equation modeling results supported the mediator roles of expectations of rejection, anger rumination, and self-compassion. More specifically, perceived discrimination was associated with expectations of rejection, which, in turn, was associated with increased anger rumination and less self-compassion, resulting in greater psychological distress. The findings suggest several avenues for prevention and intervention with sexual minority individuals.

Parental pressure and support toward Asian Americans' self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and interests in stereotypical occupations: Living up to parental expectations and internalized stereotyping as mediators.

This study examined whether living up to parental expectations and internalized stereotyping (i.e., internalizing Asian American stereotypes) mediated the impact of parental pressure and support on occupational outcomes (i.e., self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and interests in stereotypical occupations) among 229 Asian American students from universities nationwide. Results indicated that living up to parental expectations and internalized stereotyping partially mediated the associations between parental pressure and these 3 occupational outcomes. In addition, living up to parental expectations fully mediated the associations between parental support and the 3 occupational outcomes, but internalized stereotyping did not. The results demonstrated the differential role of parental pressure and parental support as well as the mediating role of living up to parental expectations and internalized stereotyping in Asian Americans' occupational outcomes. Future research directions and clinical implications are discussed.

Effects of perceived racial discrimination on health status and health behavior: a differential mediation hypothesis.

OBJECTIVE: Prospective data tested a "differential mediation" hypothesis: The relations (found in previous research) between perceived racial discrimination and physical health status versus health-impairing behavior (problematic substance use) are mediated by two different types of affective reactions, internalizing and externalizing. METHOD: The sample included 680 African American women from the Family and Community Health Study (M age = 37 years at Time 1; 45 years at Time 4). Four waves of data were analyzed. Perceived discrimination was assessed, along with anxiety and depression (internalizing) and hostility/anger (externalizing) as mediators, and physical health status and problematic substance use (drinking) as outcomes. RESULTS: Structural equation modeling indicated that discrimination predicted increases in both externalizing and internalizing reactions. These affective responses, in turn, predicted subsequent problematic substance use and physical health status, respectively, also controlling for earlier reports. In each case, the indirect effects from discrimination through the affective mediator to the specific health outcome were significant and consistent with the differential mediation hypothesis. CONCLUSIONS: Perceived racial discrimination is associated with increases in internalizing and externalizing reactions among Black women, but these reactions are related to different health outcomes. Changes in internalizing are associated with self-reported changes in physical health status, whereas changes in externalizing are associated with changes in substance use problems. Discussion focuses on the processes whereby discrimination affects health behavior and physical health status.

Racial identification, racial composition, and substance use vulnerability among African American adolescents and young adults.

OBJECTIVE: Two studies examined racial identity (RI) as a protective factor against substance-related cognitions and substance use among Black adolescents and young adults living in high versus low percentage Black social environments. METHOD: Using structural equation modeling techniques, Study 1 examined longer term effects of RI on substance use cognitions and behaviors among 720 Black adolescents. Study 2 examined the impact of RI and percentage Black peer environment on alcohol use among 203 Black young adults. RESULTS: Study 1 revealed that RI was prospectively associated with lower levels of perceived friends' use and lower favorability of the substance user prototype and, in turn, lower substance willingness and use, but only among Black adolescents in predominantly White neighborhoods. These adolescents also reported greater access to substances. In Study 2, low RI Black young adults who reported predominantly White peer environments reported the highest levels of alcohol use. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the importance of RI among Black youth and the impact of the social context on the health risk behaviors of adolescents and young adults. This research also demonstrates the utility of social psychological models, such as the prototype-willingness model, to examine mediating and moderating effects of individual differences and contextual factors on health risk cognitions and behavior. Theoretical and applied implications of the results are discussed.

Coping with racial discrimination: the role of substance use.

Three studies tested the hypothesis that the relation between perceived racial discrimination and substance use reported in previous research is moderated by use of substances as a coping mechanism. Studies 1 and 2 were experimental studies of African American adolescents' and young adults' reactions to a discrimination experience. Results revealed that those who endorsed substance use-as-coping reported more willingness to use substances after experiencing discrimination. Study 3 was a prospective study of the relation between perceived discrimination and substance use over an 8-year period in African American adolescents. Results demonstrated that discrimination is associated with increases in substance use, but only among adolescents who endorse substance use-as-coping. Together, these three studies provide evidence that experiencing discrimination has both short- and long-term detrimental effects on African Americans' substance use, but significantly more so for those who adopt a pattern of using substances as a coping mechanism.

The erosive effects of racism: reduced self-control mediates the relation between perceived racial discrimination and substance use in African American adolescents.

Perceived racial discrimination, self-control, anger, and either substance use or use cognitions were assessed in 2 studies conducted with samples of African American adolescents. The primary goal was to examine the relation between discrimination and self-control over time; a 2nd goal was to determine whether that relation mediates the link between discrimination and substance use found in previous research. Study 1, which included a latent growth curve analysis with 3 waves of data, indicated that experience with discrimination (from age 10 years to age 18 years) was associated with reduced self-control, which then predicted increased substance use. Additional analyses indicated anger was also a mediator of this discrimination to use relation. Study 2, which was experimental, showed that envisioning an experience involving discrimination was associated with an increase in substance-related responses to double entendre words (e.g., pot, roach) in a word association task, especially for participants who were low in dispositional self-control. The effect was again mediated by reports of anger. Thus, the "double mediation" pattern was discrimination → more anger and reduced self-control → increased substance use and/or substance cognitions. Results are discussed in terms of the long-term impact of discrimination on self-control and health behavior. Implications for interventions aimed at ameliorating the negative effects of discrimination and low self-control on health are also discussed.

The impact of stress on the life history strategies of African American adolescents: cognitions, genetic moderation, and the role of discrimination.

The impact of 3 different sources of stress--environmental, familial (e.g., low parental investment), and interpersonal (i.e., racial discrimination)--on the life history strategies (LHS) and associated cognitions of African American adolescents were examined over an 11-year period (5 waves, from age 10.5 to 21.5). Analyses indicated that each one of the sources of stress was associated with faster LHS cognitions (e.g., tolerance of deviance, willingness to engage in risky sex), which, in turn, predicted faster LHS behaviors (e.g., frequent sexual behavior). LHS, then, negatively predicted outcome (resilience) at age 21.5 (i.e., faster LHS → less resilience). In addition, presence of the risk ("sensitivity") alleles of 2 monoamine-regulating genes, the serotonin transporter gene (5HTTLPR) and the dopamine D4 receptor gene (DRD4), moderated the impact of perceived racial discrimination on LHS cognitions: Participants with more risk alleles (higher "sensitivity") reported faster LHS cognitions at age 18 and less resilience at age 21 if they had experienced higher amounts of discrimination and slower LHS and more resilience if they had experienced smaller amounts of discrimination. Implications for LHS theories are discussed.

From racial discrimination to risky sex: prospective relations involving peers and parents.

This study investigated how early experience with racial discrimination affected the subsequent risky sexual behaviors of a diverse sample of African American youths (N = 745). The analyses focused on 3 risk-promoting factors thought to mediate the hypothesized discrimination → risky sex relation: negative affect, affiliation with deviant peers, and favorable attitudes toward risky sex. In addition, attentive parenting was examined as a protective factor. Analyses using structural equation modeling revealed that youths who perceived more racial discrimination at age 10 or 11 were engaging in more sexual risk taking at age 18 or 19. This relation was mediated by the hypothesized risk-promoting factors via pathways that were consistent with our conceptual model. Results also indicated a prospective reciprocal relation between parenting and children's deviant affiliations: deviant peer affiliations at age 10 or 11 predicted more attentive parenting behaviors by the parents; this response from the parents, in turn, predicted relatively fewer deviant affiliations when the youths were 15 or 16. Study findings are discussed in terms of their relevance to the disproportionately high rates of sexually transmitted infections among African Americans.

Perceived racial discrimination as a barrier to college enrollment for African Americans.

African Americans trail European Americans in terms of academic achievement, even when accounting for differences in socioeconomic status. One cause of this gap may be racial discrimination. In the current article the authors hypothesized that early perceived racial discrimination (by 5th grade) would predict college enrollment, mediated by changes from 7th grade to 10th grade in academic orientation, college aspirations and expectations, and deviance tolerance. Participants were 750 African Americans from the Family and Community Health Study. A structural equation model that controlled for socioeconomic status and earlier academic performance supported the hypothesis, with the exception that discrimination did not influence aspirations. The effect of discrimination on expectations, however, was moderated: Participants with high future orientation maintained high expectations in spite of discrimination. These results suggest that discrimination discourages some African Americans from pursuing higher education and that increasing future orientation may promote African Americans' college enrollment.

Exploring the link between racial discrimination and substance use: what mediates? What buffers?

The relation between perceived racial discrimination and substance use was examined in 2 studies that were based on the prototype-willingness model (Gibbons, Gerrard, & Lane, 2003). Study 1, using structural equation modeling, revealed prospective relations between discrimination and use 5 years later in a panel of African American adolescents (M age 10.5 years at Time 1 [T1]) and their parents. For both groups, the relation was mediated by anger and/or hostility. For the adolescents, it was also mediated by behavioral willingness, and it was moderated by supportive parenting. Study 2 was a lab experiment in which a subset of the Study 1 adolescents (M age = 18.5 years) was asked to imagine a discriminatory experience, and then their affect and drug willingness were assessed. As in the survey study, discrimination was associated with more drug willingness, and that relation was again mediated by anger and moderated by supportive parenting. Implications of the results for research and interventions involving reactions to racial discrimination are discussed.

Media as social influence: racial differences in the effects of peers and media on adolescent alcohol cognitions and consumption.

Racial differences in the effects of peer and media influence on adolescents' alcohol cognitions and consumption were examined in a large-scale panel study. With regard to peer influence, results from cross-lagged panel analyses indicated that the relation between perceived peer drinking and own drinking was significant for both Black and White adolescents, but it was stronger for the White adolescents. With regard to media influence, structural modeling analyses indicated that exposure to drinking in movies was associated with more alcohol consumption 8 months and 16 months later. These effects were mediated by increases in the favorability of the adolescents' drinker prototypes, their willingness to drink, and their tendency to affiliate with friends who were drinking. Multiple group analyses indicated that, once again, the effects (both direct and indirect) were much stronger for White adolescents than for Black adolescents. The results suggest media influence works in a similar manner to social influence and that Whites may be more susceptible to both types of influence.

Sun protection intervention for highway workers: long-term efficacy of UV photography and skin cancer information on men's protective cognitions and behavior.

BACKGROUND: The risk for skin cancer is increased among older males and outdoor workers who have high levels of ultraviolet (UV) exposure. PURPOSE: This study was designed to examine the long-term efficacy of UV photography interventions on male outdoor workers, the potential mediators of its impact, and the efficacy of UV photography and skin cancer vs. aging information with this population. METHODS: One hundred forty-eight male outdoor workers were randomly assigned to one of four intervention conditions or a control condition in a two by two plus one factorial design. The men in the intervention conditions received or did not receive a UV photo of their face and watched either a photoaging or skin cancer educational video. Participants completed pre-intervention, immediate post-intervention, and 2-month and 1-year follow-up assessments. RESULTS: Analysis of covariance and structural equation modeling revealed that participants in the UV photography and cancer information interventions reported higher levels of sun protection cognitions, which were significant partial mediators of increases in sun protection behaviors and decreases in skin color. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence for effective sun protection interventions on male outdoor workers that may help reduce skin cancer risk.