Depression And Perceived Stress as Mediators Between Racial Microaggressions and Somatic Symptoms in College Students of Color

The current study examined the ability of mental health indicators, namely depression and perceived stress, to mediate the relationship between racial microaggressions and health among a racially/ethnically diverse sample of 467 college students of color. Consistent with what was hypothesized, the main findings revealed that depression and perceived stress mediated the relationships between types of racial microaggressions, specifically low-achieving, invisibility, and criminality, and somatic symptoms. The study results suggest that there may be multiple pathways by which specific racial microaggressions might be associated with psychological and somatic health indicators