Publication Date

2024

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Pittman, Laura D.

Degree Name

M.A. (Master of Arts)

Legacy Department

Department of Psychology

Abstract

Experiences of race-based stressors are linked with worse psychological outcomes for racial/ethnic minority individuals (e.g., Ferdinand et al., 2015). The way in which parents talk to their children about race (i.e., racial/ethnic socialization; RES) may exacerbate or buffer against the strength of this link (e.g., Keum & Ahn, 2021). Therefore, the present study examined the links between race-based stressors, RES, and psychological outcomes (i.e., depression, anxiety, stress, racial trauma) across multiple racial/ethnic minority groups. The present study also explored the different RES messages as potential moderators for the link between race-based stressors and outcomes, as well as differences in these moderations between racial/ethnic groups. The study collected data nationwide using online questionnaires from 232 college students (Mage= 19.27; 31.5% Asian American, 35.8% Black, 32.8% Hispanic/Latinx; 62.9% female). Partial correlation analyses revealed that race-based stressors were positively associated with all psychological symptom measures assessed, and preparation for bias and promotion of mistrust were positively associated with anxiety, stress, and racial trauma. Cultural socialization was not significantly associated with any of the outcomes. Additionally, two-way interactions found that promotion of mistrust weakened the link between race-based stressors and racial trauma symptoms and feelings of lack of safety, and between race-based stressors and stress. However, cultural socialization and preparation for bias did not moderate the links between race-based stressors and psychological outcomes in the two-way interactions. Further, these patterns varied by race/ethnicity, where cultural socialization and promotion of mistrust strengthened the link between race-based stressors and racial trauma symptoms for Asian participants but weakened the link for Black and Hispanic/Latinx participants. Promotion of mistrust also strengthened the links between race-based stressors and anxiety and between race-based stressors and stress for Asian participants, such that there was no link at low levels of promotion of mistrust but a positive link at high levels. The opposite was true for Black and Hispanic/Latinx participants, such that there was a positive link at high levels of promotion of mistrust but no link at low levels of promotion of mistrust (or a weakened link between race-based stressors and anxiety for Black participants, Overall, the findings illustrate the role of race-based stressors and RES in negative psychological outcomes for racial/ethnic minority emerging adults, with a recognition that there are nuances in these links between different racial/ethnic minority groups. Therefore, these findings have important implications for parents of racial/ethnic minority children, researchers, and clinicians alike.

Extent

181 pages

Language

en

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

Download

Share

COinS