Moderating effects of three coping strategies and self-esteem on perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms: A minority stress model for Asian international students.

This study examined 3 coping strategies (reflective, suppressive, and reactive), along with self-esteem, as moderators of the relation between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms. International students (N = 354) from China, India, Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong provided data via an online survey. The role of perceived general stress was statistically controlled. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated a significant direct effect of perceived discrimination, a significant 2-way interaction of perceived discrimination and suppressive coping, and a significant 3-way interaction of perceived discrimination, reactive coping, and self-esteem in predicting depressive symptoms. An increased tendency to use suppressive coping appeared to strengthen the association between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms. In contrast, the association between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms was not significant when reactive coping was infrequently used, but only for students with relatively high self-esteem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Minority stress, perceived bicultural competence, and depressive symptoms among ethnic minority college students.

Based on biculturalism theory (LaFromboise, Coleman, & Gerton, 1993), the present study examined the direct effect of perceived bicultural competence (PBC) on depressive symptoms, and PBC as a potential coping resource to moderate the association between minority stress and depressive symptoms. Participants were 167 Asian American, African American, and Latino/a American students at a predominantly White Midwest university. Results from a hierarchical regression analysis suggested that (a) minority stress was positively associated with depressive symptoms after controlling for perceived general stress, (b) PBC was negatively associated with depressive symptoms after controlling for perceived general stress and minority stress, and (c) the interaction between minority stress and PBC was significant in predicting depressive symptoms. Results from a simple effect analysis supported the hypothesis that a higher level of PBC buffers the association between minority stress and depressive symptoms. Furthermore, post hoc exploratory analyses of the components of PBC suggested that 2 components, Social Groundedness and Cultural Knowledge, may be especially important coping resources. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An exploratory examination of the associations among racial and ethnic discrimination, racial climate, and trauma-related symptoms in a college student population.

In this study, we examined the association among perceptions of racial and/or ethnic discrimination, racial climate, and trauma-related symptoms among 289 racially diverse college undergraduates. Study measures included the Perceived Stress Scale, the Perceived Ethnic Discrimination Questionnaire, the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist—Civilian Version, and the Racial Climate Scale. Results of a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) indicated that Asian and Black students reported more frequent experiences of discrimination than did White students. Additionally, the MANOVA indicated that Black students perceived the campus racial climate as being more negative than did White and Asian students. A hierarchical regression analysis showed that when controlling for generic life stress, perceptions of discrimination contributed an additional 10% of variance in trauma-related symptoms for Black students, and racial climate contributed an additional 7% of variance in trauma symptoms for Asian students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ethnic Identity and Approach-Type Coping as Moderators of the Racial Discrimination/Well-Being Relation in Asian Americans.

Ethnic identity, in combination with approach-type coping strategies (i.e., social support seeking, cognitive restructuring, and problem solving), was hypothesized to moderate the effects of perceived racial discrimination on the well-being of Asian American college students. Results found that individuals with a strong ethnic identity were more likely to engage in approach-type coping strategies, but the use of cognitive restructuring and problem solving coping buffered the effects of racial discrimination on well-being only when racial discrimination was low. These results are contrary to the current literature and suggest ethnic identity and approach-type coping strategies may not always protect against discrimination for Asian Americans. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cultural differences in optimism, pessimism, and coping: Predictors of subsequent adjustment in Asian American and Caucasian American college students.

Cultural differences were examined between 111 Asian American and 111 Caucasian American students matched on age and sex in a prospective design study. Using separate optimism and pessimism scores, Asian Americans were found to be more pessimistic than Caucasian Americans. Asian Americans were also found to use more problem avoidance and social withdrawal coping strategies than Caucasian Americans. When health outcomes were assessed 6 weeks later, Asian Americans were found to report more depressive and psychological symptoms, but not more physical symptoms, than Caucasian Americans. Results of separate regression analyses for each ethnic group indicated that along with different coping strategies, lack of optimism predicted all 3 health outcomes for Asian Americans, whereas pessimism predicted 2 of the 3 health outcomes for Caucasian Americans. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does ethnic identity buffer or exacerbate the effects of frequent racial discrimination on situational well-being of Asian Americans?

A quasi-experimental vignette study was conducted to test whether ethnic identity moderated the effects of frequent racial discrimination on situational positive and negative affect of Asian American college students. Results showed that imagining multiple incidents of racial discrimination was related to higher negative affect than imagining a single incident. Asian Americans with high ethnic identity reported lower positive affect when imagining multiple incidents of racial discrimination compared to individuals with high ethnic identity imagining a single incident; by contrast, Asian Americans with low ethnic identity reported higher positive affect when imagining multiple incidents of racial discrimination compared to individuals with low ethnic identity imagining a single incident of racial discrimination. Results suggest ethnic identity may exacerbate the association between racial discrimination and situational well-being for Asian Americans. Moreover, post hoc analyses indicate that the relationship between ethnic identity and discrimination is more relevant for U.S.-born Asian Americans than it is for immigrant Asian Americans. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of coping in the relationship between perceived racism and racism-related stress for Asian Americans: Gender differences.

On the basis of stress and coping theory, the authors examined coping as a mediator of the relationship between perceptions of racism and racism-related stress with a sample of Asian American college students (N = 336). Results indicated that coping mediated the relationship between racism and racism-related stress differentially by gender. The more that men perceived racism, the more likely they were to use support-seeking coping strategies that were associated with higher levels of racism-related stress. The more that women perceived racism, the more they used active coping strategies that were associated with higher levels of racism-related stress. The findings demonstrate how coping with racism differs for Asian Americans on the basis of gender. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Chronic stress burden, discrimination, and subclinical carotid artery disease in African American and Caucasian women.

This study examined the association between a composite index of stress that included measures of life events, ongoing stress, discrimination, and economic hardship and subclinical carotid disease among 109 African American and 225 Caucasian premenopausal women. African Americans reported more chronic stress and had higher carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) as compared with Caucasians. Among African Americans only, the composite stress index and unfair treatment were associated with higher IMT. These effects were partially mediated by biological risk factors. African Americans who reported experiencing racial discrimination had marginally more carotid plaque than did those who did not report experiencing racial discrimination. The results suggest that African Americans may be particularly vulnerable to the burden of chronic stress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Underlying mechanisms in the relationship between Africentric worldview and depressive symptoms.

This study examines underlying mechanisms in the relationship between an Africentric worldview and depressive symptoms. Participants were 112 African American young adults. An Africentric worldview buffered the association between perceived stress and depressive symptoms. The relationship between an Africentric worldview and depressive symptoms was mediated by perceived stress and emotion-focused coping. These findings highlight the protective function of an Africentric worldview in the context of African Americans’ stress experiences and psychological health and offer promise for enhancing African American mental health service delivery and treatment interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An intersectional approach for understanding perceived discrimination and psychological well-being among African American and Caribbean Black youth.

The present study examined whether combinations of ethnicity, gender, and age moderated the association between perceived discrimination and psychological well-being indicators (depressive symptoms, self-esteem, and life satisfaction) in a nationally representative sample of Black youth. The data were from the National Survey of American Life, which includes 810 African American and 360 Caribbean Black adolescents. The results indicated main effects such that perceived discrimination was linked to increased depressive symptoms and decreased self-esteem and life satisfaction. Additionally, there were significant interactions for ethnicity, gender, and race. Specifically, older Caribbean Black female adolescents exhibited higher depressive symptoms and lower life satisfaction in the context of high levels of perceived discrimination compared with older African American male adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of racial identity in perceived racial discrimination.

This study examined the role that dimensions of racial identity play regarding the antecedents and consequences of perceived racial discrimination among African Americans. A total of 267 African American college students completed measures of racial identity, perceived racial discrimination, and psychological distress at 2 time points. After controlling for previous perceptions of discrimination, racial centrality was positively associated with subsequent perceived racial discrimination. Additionally, perceived discrimination was positively associated with subsequent event-specific and global psychological distress after accounting for previous perceptions of discrimination and distress. Finally, racial ideology and public regard beliefs moderated the positive relationship between perceived discrimination and subsequent distress. The results illustrate the complex role racial identity plays in the lives of African Americans. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Optimism and Pessimism as Mediators of the Relations Between Self-Discrepancies and Distress Among Asian and European Americans.

The authors examined the role of undesired self-discrepancies in predicting emotional distress among Asian and European Americans, whether undesired self-discrepancies are stronger predictors of distress for Asian than for European Americans, and whether optimism and pessimism mediate the relations between ideal, ought, and undesired self-discrepancies and emotional distress. Self-identified Asian/Asian American (n = 140) and European American (n = 189) college students completed measures of self-discrepancies, optimism/pessimism, social anxiety, and depressive symptoms. Results show that for both Asian Americans and European Americans, greater similarity to the undesired self is equally predictive of symptoms of depression, whereas distance from the undesired self is more predictive of social anxiety for Asian Americans than for European Americans. Furthermore, pessimism fully mediates the relations between undesired self-discrepancies and depressive symptoms for both Asian Americans and European Americans, although pessimism was a stronger predictor of depression for European Americans than for Asians/Asian Americans. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trajectories of perceived adult and peer discrimination among Black, Latino, and Asian American adolescents: Patterns and psychological correlates.

This article presents results from a 3-year longitudinal study of the growth patterns and correlates of perceived discrimination by adults and by peers among Black, Latino, and Asian American high school students. Results revealed a linear increase over time in levels of perceived discrimination by adults, whereas perceptions of discrimination by peers remained stable over time. Asian American and non-Puerto Rican Latino adolescents (primarily Dominican) reported higher levels of peer and/or adult discrimination than did Puerto Rican youth, whereas Black adolescents reported a steeper increase over time in levels of perceived discrimination by peers and by adults than did Puerto Rican adolescents. Peer and adult discrimination was significantly associated with decreased self-esteem and increased depressive symptoms over time. Ethnic identity and ethnicity were found to moderate the relationships between perceived discrimination and changes in psychological well-being over time. Results underscore the need to include perceptions of discrimination when studying the development and well-being of ethnic minority adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Benefit finding, affective reactions to diabetes stress, and diabetes management among early adolescents.

Objective: To examine whether benefit finding was associated with better adjustment among adolescents with diabetes by buffering negative affective reactions to diabetes stress and by promoting positive affective reactions. Design: Early adolescents aged 10–14 with Type 1 diabetes (n = 252) described recent diabetes stressors, affective reactions, and perceived coping effectiveness. They also completed measures of benefit finding, depressive symptoms, and adherence. Metabolic control (i.e., HbA1c) was obtained from medical records. Main Outcome Measures: The main outcome measures were perceived coping effectiveness, depressive symptoms, adherence, and HbA1c. Results: Benefit finding was associated with lower depressive symptoms, higher perceived coping effectiveness and better adherence, and with higher positive as well as negative affective reactions to diabetes stress. Benefit finding interacted with negative affective reactions to predict depressive symptoms and HbA1c. Negative affective reactions to stress were associated with poorer adjustment among those with low benefit finding, but were unrelated or more weakly related to poor adjustment among those with high benefit finding. Positive affective reactions did not mediate associations between benefit finding and any outcome. Conclusions: Consistent with a stress-buffering process, benefit finding may be a resource that buffers the disruptive aspects of negative affective reactions to stress for adolescents' diabetes management. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coping with perceived peer stress: Gender-specific and common pathways to symptoms of psychopathology.

This study investigated gender differences in the moderating and mediating effects of responses to stress on the association between perceived peer stress and symptoms of psychopathology. A sample of 295 middle school students (63.7% female; Mage = 12.39 years, SD = 0.99) completed self-report surveys on stress, coping, and behavioral problems. Involuntary responses to stress (e.g., physiological arousal, intrusive thoughts, impulsive action) mediated the association between perceived stress and anxiety/depression and aggression for girls and for boys. Disengagement coping (e.g., denial, avoidance) partially mediated the association between peer stress and anxiety/depression for boys and for girls. In contrast, disengagement coping mediated the association between peer stress and overt aggression for boys only. Finally, engagement coping (e.g., problem solving, emotion regulation, cognitive restructuring) buffered the indirect effect of peer stress on symptoms of psychopathology for girls only. Implications for prevention and intervention efforts are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individualistic and collectivistic worldviews: Implications for understanding perceptions of racial discrimination in African Americans and British Caribbean Americans.

Cultural worldviews and perceived racial discrimination were examined among Americans (n = 106) and British Caribbean Americans (n = 95), both of African descent, who were recruited through university student organizations, community organizations, and snowball sampling. Consistent with public perceptions of differences in the experience of race among these 2 groups, multiple regression analyses revealed African Americans were more likely than British Caribbean Americans to perceive racial discrimination in the United States. In addition, a cultural worldview focus on individuality and equality (i.e., horizontal individualism) moderated the relationship between ethnic group and perceived racial discrimination. British Caribbean Americans who endorsed greater agreement with horizontal individualism were less likely to perceive racial discrimination. The same worldview was unrelated to African Americans' perceptions of racial discrimination. The results are discussed with respect to within-group heterogeneity among persons of African descent. Implications for counseling persons of African descent and future research directions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Goal adjustment capacities, coping, and subjective well-being: The sample case of caregiving for a family member with mental illness.

This study examined the associations between goal adjustment capacities, coping, and indicators of subjective well-being in 2 waves of data from individuals who provide care for a family member with mental illness. We hypothesized that goal adjustment capacities would predict higher levels of subjective well-being by facilitating coping with caregiving stress. Results showed that goal disengagement was associated with effective care-specific coping (e.g., less self-blame and substance use). Goal reengagement was also associated with effective care-specific coping (e.g., positive reframing), but at the same time it predicted the use of less effective strategies (e.g., venting and self-distraction). Moreover, goal disengagement predicted lower levels of caregiver burden and depressive symptoms and buffered the longitudinal effect of caregiver burden on increases in depressive symptoms. Goal reengagement, by contrast, predicted higher levels of caregiver burden and purpose in life and buffered the cross-sectional association between caregiver burden and depressive symptoms. Finally, effective (and less useful) care-specific coping statistically explained the adaptive (and maladaptive) effects of goal adjustment capacities on participants' well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived discrimination, sense of control, and depressive symptoms among Korean American older adults.

This study explored a potential pathway by which perceived discrimination may affect levels of depressive symptoms in a sample of 472 Korean American older adults (Mage = 69.9, SD = 7.04). Building upon previous studies demonstrating that perceived discrimination has negative impacts on mental health, we hypothesized that sense of control would mediate the associations between perceived discrimination and depressive symptoms. Our analyses showed that the effects of perceived discrimination on depressive symptoms were not only direct but also mediated through a lowered sense of control. Finding that sense of control serves as an intervening step between perceived discrimination and mental health may help explicate the psychological mechanisms involved in responses to discriminatory experience and has implications for intervention strategies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Lifetime suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in Asian Americans.

Few studies have examined the role of culturally relevant factors in suicidal behavior among Asian Americans. Using the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS) (Alegria et al., 2004; Heeringa et al., 2004), the current study examined the role of culturally related variables (family conflict, perceived discrimination, and ethnic identity) on suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in a nationally representative sample of 2,095 Asian Americans. Important covariates were sociodemographic characteristics (gender, age, marital status, years of education, household poverty, and nativity status), depressive and anxiety disorders, and number of chronic conditions. Gender related correlates were also explored. The lifetime prevalence of suicidal ideation and attempts was 8.8% and 2.5%, respectively. Female gender, family conflict, perceived discrimination, and the presence of lifetime depressive or anxiety disorders were positively correlated with suicidal ideation and attempts. A high level of identification with one’s ethnic group was associated with lower rates of suicide attempts. Among Asian men, but not women, the presence of chronic medical conditions was associated with suicidal ideation. Findings highlight the contributions to suicide risk of cultural factors and gender differences in Asian Americans. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Filipino Americans and racism: A multiple mediation model of coping.

Although the literature on Asian Americans and racism has been emerging, few studies have examined how coping influences one’s encounters with racism. To advance the literature, the present study focused on the psychological impact of Filipino Americans’ experiences with racism and the role of coping as a mediator using a community-based sample of adults (N = 199). Two multiple mediation models were used to examine the mediating effects of active, avoidance, support-seeking, and forbearance coping on the relationship between perceived racism and psychological distress and self-esteem, respectively. Separate analyses were also conducted for men and women given differences in coping utilization. For men, a bootstrap procedure indicated that active, support-seeking, and avoidance coping were mediators of the relationship between perceived racism and psychological distress. Active coping was negatively associated with psychological distress, whereas both support seeking and avoidance were positively associated with psychological distress. A second bootstrap procedure for men indicated that active and avoidance coping mediated the relationship between perceived racism and self-esteem such that active coping was positively associated with self-esteem, and avoidance was negatively associated with self-esteem. For women, only avoidance coping had a significant mediating effect that was associated with elevations in psychological distress and decreases in self-esteem. The results highlight the importance of examining the efficacy of specific coping responses to racism and the need to differentiate between the experiences of men and women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)