Racial identity and the association between racial discrimination and depressive symptoms.

This study examined the association between racial discrimination and depressive symptoms in African American college students and whether racial identity moderated this association. Goals of this study included examining students at this particular developmental period and comparing the use of variable and profile analytic approaches. A sample of 194 African American college students completed measures of racial discrimination (Daily Life Events Scale; Harrell, 2000), racial identity (The Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity (MIBI); Sellers, Smith, Shelton, Rowley & Chavous, 1997), college hassles (Kohn, Lafreniere & Gurevich, 1990) and depressive symptoms (Radloff, 1977). Results suggested that college hassles mediated the association between racial discrimination and depressive symptoms. Four meaningful profiles emerged through cluster analysis of seven MIBI scales. The Integrationist members focused on blending with mainstream and shared human qualities. The Multiculturalist students were aware of race and oppression in society yet were focused on commonalities between oppressed groups and all humans rather than specifically African American issues. Members of the Undifferentiated profile did not seem to have a strong conceptualization of the world in terms of race. The Race-Focused students had a strong affinity for African Americans, favored nationalist beliefs, yet also had below average public regard. This low public could be conceptualized as a buffer against negative views that others have about African Americans affecting personal beliefs or perceptions. Results suggested that the profile approach effectively captured the complexity of racial identity as a moderator. Cluster membership influenced the association between racial discrimination and depressive symptoms. Specifically, the Integrationist cluster had the strongest association between racial discrimination and depressive symptoms. This study highlights the complexity of how people make meaning of race as part of their identity and how this phenomenon is better captured through clustering to create profiles as compared to examining components of racial identity as separate variables related to outcomes. The vital role of college hassles in understanding college students' experience of discrimination is another critical finding in this research. Implications for investigating the experience of racial discrimination, racial identity, the importance of college hassles, and considerations for working with African American college students are discussed.PhDBlack studiesClinical psychologyPersonality psychologyPsychologySocial SciencesUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/124356/2/3138109.pd