Discrimination in relation to emerging adults' depression and anxiety: ethnic identity and rumination as potential mediators and moderators

Includes bibliographical references (pages 41-55)The purposes of this study were (1) to examine the effects of perceived ethnic discrimination on mental health (i.e.. depression and anxiety) in emerging adults, (2) to examine whether the relationship between perceived ethnic discrimination and mental health was moderated by ethnic identity, and (3) to examine whether rumination would mediate the relationship between perceived ethnic discrimination and mental health. Self-report survey data were collected from 354 emerging adults from one public university in Southern California. The results indicate perceived ethnic discrimination is positively correlated with depression, anxiety, and rumination, and negatively related to ethnic identity. It was also found that in one of three models, ethnic identity lessens the impact of perceived ethnic discrimination on depression, but did not buffer the relationship between perceived ethnic discrimination and a different measure or depression or anxiety. Rumination served as a full or partial mediator between perceived ethnic discrimination and both depression and anxiety. Thus, emerging adults are more susceptible to symptoms of negative mental health when they experience perceived ethnic discrimination and/or ruminate about their negative experiences. The findings suggest that (1) even subtle experiences of perceived ethnic discrimination can be deleterious to mental health, (2) ethnic identity can buffer the impact of perceived ethnic discrimination on levels depression, and (3) rumination partially explains the relationship between perceived ethnic discrimination and depression and anxiety. Practitioners should examine the role of perceived ethnic discrimination in their clients experiencing depression and anxiety, and may find it useful to focus on coping with perceived ethnic discrimination by discouraging rumination and encouraging ethnic identity